A Secret Uncovered
by Darth Frodo
Summary: When Danny's transformation is caught on tape, Danny has a whole new battle to face, including a press conference, Valerie, and, of course, school. But who is the mysterious ghost who set him up? And how much can he possibly mess up his life?
1. The Hidden Cameraman

A/N: So, here's a new idea I had. It's not as emocional or psychologicalas Tortured Truth (for those of you who read it) as of yet, but I still think it's good. I hope that doesn't discurage anyone from reading it, but I just wanted to be frank. Anyways, I hope you still enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom

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A Secret Uncovered

Chapter One  
The Hidden Cameraman

Danny crashed into the floor, making a large indent in the pavement. He stood up slowly, his body shaking from the pain. This ghost was getting particularly annoying. He turned invisible and flew up towards the giant dragonish ghost whose three heads scanned the area, searching for him. Danny turned visible behind the ghost and cupped both his hands together, releasing a powerful ecto-blast at the body of the ghost. He had long since discovered that hurting each of the heads was out of the question, since that's how the ghost got three heads in the first place. He should have paid more attention to the unit on Greek Mythology in Lancer's class, otherwise he would have known after two heads popped out of the one he destroyed that it was pulling a hydra. So now he ended up facing a three headed giant dragon ghost instead of a one headed giant dragon ghost. Fortunately Sam was able to remind him before he destroyed another head, or he could be in a much worse situation.

The ghost whipped all three of its heads around to face Danny and shot purple ecto-rays at him through their deep purple eyes. Danny started screaming as he was thrown to the ground again. This time, however, he had a hard time getting up. Then he saw a large purple clawed foot overhead and he went intangible as the ghost stepped on him. He flew out of its foot and over to Sam and Tucker who were hiding in an alley nearby.

"I don't know what to do," he breathed, severely weakened. "No matter what I can't hurt it, and if I so much as punch one of the heads it explodes and out pop two more. I don't know what to do!"

"Don't say that Danny, there has to be a way," Tucker comforted.

"How was the hydra killed?" he asked Sam.

"Well, Hercules chopped off one of its heads and then branded it shut so it couldn't grow another in its place. Then he stuck his sword through its heart," the resident Goth of Casper High responded, her violet eyes wide with worry.

"In the Disney version he just caused a landslide and that killed it," the African American boy wearing a red beret answered.

"Tucker, that doesn't help," Sam stated. "I don't think a ghost will be hurt by a landslide."

"But it might be hurt if I burn its neck," Danny said lost in thought. "Wait here, I'll be right back."

He flew off towards the lab, glad that his parents weren't in there. The last thing he needed was his parents interfering. Thankfully they hadn't heard about the attacking ghost, otherwise he'd have to worry about five heads. He grabbed the invention he was looking for and returned to the scene.

"What's that?" Tucker asked as Danny landed next to them.

"This is one of my parent's new inventions. It sprays out goo that burns a ghost's skin. I think this may be exactly what this ghostly hydra needs, a ghost version of branding."

As Danny was about to fly towards the hydra, his sister Jazz came running down the street and turned into the alley. "Danny, I came as soon as I found out. The ghost alarm's been tripped, and Mom and Dad are getting prepared. It's probably only a short time before they come, and Valerie too. So, I suggest you finish this ghost pronto."

"What do you think I've been trying to do?" Danny asked his red headed sister fiercely. "Nothing I have does anything, other than give it more heads."

"You mean like the hydra?" she asked.

"How does everyone but me know about that story?" Danny asked in annoyance.

"I thought everyone did. It's a common myth that most people..."

"Jazz, I don't have time right now; I need to get rid of this ghost," Danny interrupted as he flew off towards the ghost. He flew high above it to get some leverage and shot an ecto-blast at one of its heads. The head blew up and Danny quickly coated the gaping neck with the goo. He saw the ghost's neck start to burn as the ghost screamed in pain. He noticed the new heads trying to burst through the burnt ectoplasm of the neck but failing miserably.Danny smiled in triumph and flew over to the other two heads and repeated the process. Once headless, the ghost didn't prove that much of a threat and Danny had it in the thermos in no time.

Tucker, Sam, and Jazz ran out to join him in the street as he shut his trusty Fenton Thermos, glad the hydra was able to fit.

"See, I knew you could do it!" Sam comforted excitedly as she put a warm hand on Danny's frigid shoulder.

"Nice use of mythology little brother," his sister complimented as she ruffled his snow white hair. "But I thought you didn't know the story of the hydra."

"Well, it was Sam's idea actually. Well, at least the burning it's neck part. Everything else was all me," Danny bragged.

"Hey, what about me?" Tucker asked, feeling left out.

"You didn't help," Sam replied. "You just suggested a landslide."

The three of them laughed and Tucker eventually joined in.

"Well, shall we continue our trip to the mall before we have to awkwardly answer questions from my parents?" Danny asked as two white rings of light surrounded his waste moving in opposite directions up and down his body, changing his black and white jumpsuit to a white t-shirt and jeans, his glowing green eyes to icy blue, and his snow white hair to a dark black.

"I'll see you three later," his sister stated as she walked off back towards the house.

"Jazz, would you like to come with us?" Danny asked, hating to single his sister out. She sacrificed so much of her time to help him and ended up hanging out with his friends more than her own. He hated making her feel left out of the group when she did just as much as the rest of them.

"Thanks, but no," she replied smiling. "I'm going to do my homework, which you should be doing."

"That can wait. Right now I'm going to spend a few ghost free hours at the mall with my two best friends," he stated as his friends started walking towards the mall, their original destination. They failed to see a tall, thin man with dark hair standing in a window in a nearby building with a video camera, smiling at the amazing footage he'd just received.

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A/N: I hope it wasn't too bad. I mean, it's only my second fan fic after all. Sorry about the cliffie. I'll put the next chapter up soon! Please R&R or flame if you feel you need to. 


	2. Secrets Revealed

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! I really wasn't sure about posting this story or not, but I'm starting to be glad that I did. So, here's the next chapter, and I'm sorry that it's still a little short, but it's a good place to end it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom.

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Chapter Two  
Secrets Revealed

Danny, Sam, and Tucker started walking home from the mall, laden down with an assortment of clothes, books, video games, and CDs. As they rounded the corner towards Danny's house, news reporters surrounded the three of them, flashing pictures and recording their stunned looks.

"Danny, Danny, can you tell us how long you've been a ghost?"

"What's it like having ghost powers?"

"Are you really trying to save the city?"

Danny looked dumbfounded at the paparazzi. How could this happen? How did they all find out? He turned to look at Sam and Tucker who were both equally shocked. He stood frozen staring blankly at the reporters as they continued to blind him with flashes and pester him with questions. He didn't know what to do.

"Danny, run," Sam whispered in his ear, coming to her senses first.

"How?" he whispered back. "They're completely surrounding us, there's nowhere to run to."

"Run through them, fly, do something."

"I can't."

"Yes you can. They already know. You have to go!"

"What about you and Tucker?"

"We'll be fine, they only want you. Just go!"

Danny turned intangible to many gasps of the reporters and ran straight through the crowds, not stopping until he ran through the door to his house.

He started breathing heavily as he turned tangible again. How could this possibly happen? He'd always been so careful, how could this happen?

He started walking into the living room when he saw his parents glued to the television, staring at a picture of a news reporter with a little picture of his ghost form's face.

"It has just been discovered that the Ghost Boy, or Danny Phantom as he prefers to be called, is none other than fourteen year old Danny Fenton, son of ghost hunters Jack and Maddie Fenton," the news reporter revealed as the picture of Danny Phantom was replaced by his human face.

He heard his parents gasp at this sudden revelation.

"What are they talking about? What do they mean?" he heard his mother ask.

"Danny can't be the Ghost Boy, he just can't be," his father muttered, his eyes not leaving the television screen.

"A few hours ago one of our camera men received a tip and caught the Ghost Boy in action fighting a horrifying ghost monster," the news reporter continued as Danny saw footage of his last few minutes of his fight with the hydra. It looked like it was shot from the upper floor of the building they were fighting near. He saw himself trap the monster in the thermos as his friends joined him in the street.

"Wait, that's Sam, Tucker, and…Jazz?" his mother asked. "What's she doing there?"

"Those three are Tucker Foley, Samantha Manson, and Jazmine Fenton, best friends and sister of Danny Fenton and apparently Danny Phantom as well," the news reported explained as the camera man zoomed in on the four of them. Remarkably, they had sound, which Danny thought a little strange since the camera man was so far away.

"See, I knew you could do it!"

"Nice use of mythology little brother, but I thought you didn't know the story of the hydra."

"Well, it was Sam's idea actually. Well, at least the burning it's neck part. Everything else was all me."

"Hey, what about me?"

"You didn't help, you just suggested a landslide."

"Well, shall we continue our trip to the mall before we have to awkwardly answer questions from my parents?" Then Danny saw himself transform and heard the camera man gasp as well as his parents. He mentally cursed himself as he realized it was a mistake to transform in such a public area, but he thought everyone had long since cleared the area. The camera froze on Danny's face, trying to emphasize the fact that it was indeed him.

"There you have it ladies and gentlemen, proof that Danny Fenton is indeed the ever mysterious Danny Phantom that either protects us or seeks to destroy us." _Of course I seek to protect them, I just stopped a huge dragon ghost from demolishing the town! _Danny thought bitterly. "Here's the scene again," the reporter stated proudly as his transformation played over the screen again, as if once wasn't enough.

"Now, let's go to Peter with a live report outside of the Fenton household."

"Thanks Beth. Just a few moments ago, we saw Danny Fenton walk around that corner," he gestured as the camera followed his finger to the corner. Sam and Tucker had left and he wondered where they went. "Then, ladies and gentlemen, it was remarkable. He used his ghost powers and just ran straight _through_ us and into his house! One of my associates ran off to the station to give them the tape, so you should be able to watch it in a matter of…" but Danny was no longer listening as his parents turned from their couch and looked straight at him.

"I guess I came at a bad time," Danny replied, trying to sound funny. It didn't really work.

"Danny, is it true? What they're saying on the television? Are you really the Ghost Boy?" his mother asked.

As an answer to their question the white rings formed around his waste and he turned into Danny Phantom. His parents gasped in shock. Then he turned human again as he stepped forward.

"Listen, Mom, Dad, I can explain," he stated, hoping they didn't do anything stupid. When they didn't say or do anything, he continued on. "Well, do you remember how I said that during the lab accident I got out of the portal in time? Well, I didn't. I got stuck inside and got zapped with all the ghost energy. I got knocked unconscious, and when I woke up, I was half ghost."

"Half ghost? Is that even possible?" his father asked.

"I guess so. How else do you explain it?" Danny asked.

"But Danny, the portal should have killed you!" his mother cried.

"Well, I guess in a sense it did, but not completely."

"He might have only half died, thus allowing him to be half ghost and half human at the same time," his father contemplated.

"Well, however it happened it doesn't matter. What matters is that you're still here with us, half ghost or not," his mother stated as she gave her son a hug.

"But Danny, why didn't you tell us?" his father asked.

"I was afraid to. I know how much you hate ghosts, especially the Ghost Boy, so I was afraid to tell you that it was really me. I was afraid of what you might do once you found out, afraid that you wouldn't love me anymore."

"Danny, you listen to me. No matter what, we will always love you," his mother stated warmly, kissing him on the forehead.

"Your mother's right. You're a Fenton, and nothing, not even being a ghost, will change that. You're still part of this family, and we still love you."

The three of them embraced as tears started to leak out of Danny's eyes. He had been worried about what his parents would do once they found out for so long that he felt completely relieved to find that all his fears were just that: fears.

Their hug was interrupted by Jazz, who came thundering down the stairs.

"Mom, Dad, don't turn on the news!" she screamed as she beheld the sight downstairs. She saw the television turned to the news channel, which was now showing the footage of Danny on the corner and his parents surrounding Danny in what looked like what used to be a hug.

"I think you're a little late Jazz," Danny stated, smiling.

"Wait, Jazz knew?" his father asked.

"Jack, we already knew that. We saw her on the news with Danny, remember?"

"Right. I knew that."

"Of course you did," his mother comforted as she smiled at Danny.

Suddenly they heard a large banging at the front door and the four of them ran to the door, Danny in the lead. They heard another large bang as they reached the door and saw the wall shake. They were trying to break into the house.

"How dare they?" his mother asked in anger. "They're trying to break down our door!"

"Oh, I'll show them to mess with the Fenton household!" his father stated.

"No, let me deal with them," Danny requested as his eyes turned green.

The mob outside finally conquered the door and burst it open, only to find themselves face to face with Danny. His arm was extended outwards, his palm pointing out at the crowd. The mob members up close backed away quickly, noticing Danny's glowing green eyes and the fully charged ecto-blast he held in his hand, waiting to be released.

"Do not, EVER break down our door again!" he thundered, his voice bordering on Ghostly Wail as the ground and walls shook around him. "If you do, I swear to you that I won't hold this back."

The mob members and news reporters looked stunned, while the photographers continued to take pictures. Danny let his arm down, his eyes still glowing green as he lifted the door up and placed it in its usual spot.

He walked into the living room to find his family surrounding the television showing what had just occurred at the door. He sat down on the couch next to his sister, who gave his hand a squeeze.

He looked over at the three of them. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I got you all involved. They won't even leave our house alone, let alone you. I'm so sorry…"

"Danny, you have nothing to be sorry about," his mother comforted, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and pulling him closer.

"That's right Danny. Don't blame yourself because of the stupid paparazzi, they're not worth it," his father added.

"I just wish there was some way to make them all go away," Danny complained.

"Maybe there is," Jazz thought out loud.

"What do you mean?" the three of them asked.

"What if you called a press conference? What if you invited all the news reporters and the whole town and answered all of their questions? They're bound to leave you alone after that. There'd be nothing more that they'd want."

"You know, that does sound like a good idea," Danny replied. "When can we have one?"

"I'll call the Mayor right now and ask," Jazz remarked and picked up the phone and headed into the other room leaving the three of them in stunned silence. Danny noticed his mother glancing nervously at his father.

"Danny," she started to say, shifting uncomfortably in her seat "we just wanted to apologize."

"For what?"

"For everything we've done. For hunting you, for everything we said about you, for hurting you, everything. If we knew it was you, we never would have done any of it, you know that, right?"

"Of course I do. And I forgive you. It wasn't your fault, it was your job." His parents smiled and gave him a warm hug.

"Alright, the mayor said he'd be happy to set up the press conference for eleven tomorrow morning."

"Alright, I'll go inform the press. Maybe some of them will leave," Danny stated as he rose to once again face the mob.

He opened the door and he was immediately blinded by the flashing lights. The air around him was filled with people asking questions.

"Alright everyone, listen!" he yelled. Everyone went quiet. "I just wanted to let you all know that I've just set up a press conference for tomorrow morning at eleven. The entire town is invited and I will answer any questions you may possibly have for me. In the meantime, I won't be leaving my house again and I won't be saying anything else, so you might as well just leave." Danny closed the door and walked into the living room as his parents switched off the television.

"I think we've had enough of that," his mother stated as Danny smiled.

"So Danny, tell us some stories!" his father encouraged excitedly, overjoyed at the fact that his son had so much ghost hunting experience.

Danny and his parents spent the rest of the night talking. He told them everything, ranging from the extent of his powers to Valerie to his possible future. He let everything out, feeling better the more he divulged. At last there would be no secrets between him and the rest of his family. Everything was now out in the open. His parents were extremely supportive, comforting him when needed and brimming with understanding and acceptance. If the reporters and the looming thought of having to face everyone in the press conference didn't exist, this would be the happiest day of his life.


	3. Preparation

A/N: So here's chapter three. Thanks so much for all the reviews! I really appreciate that so many of you the stories, and thanks for all the compliments on my writing! It really makes a girl feel good! Sorry that this one's on the shorter side, but I promise that the next one will be nice and long. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom. (This is going to be the last time on this story that I state this. By now you all should know thatI don't.)

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Chapter Three  
Preparation

Danny awoke next morning after a brief and rough sleep and screamed as he saw a photographer sitting in the tree outside his window, snapping pictures. He turned invisible and draped his bed sheet over the window. He really needed to buy blinds. Then he went intangible and stuck his torso through the covered window, scaring the photographer. Danny grabbed the camera from him and smiled as he threw it up in the air and shot an ecto-blast at it.

"Be thankful that wasn't your head," he warned as he returned back into his room. He heard his parents knocking at his bedroom door. He opened the door to find his concerned parents peering into the room.

"Danny, what's wrong? Why did you scream?" his mother asked.

"Oh nothing, I just woke up to find a photographer sitting outside my window snapping pictures of me while I slept. Don't worry though, I took care of it. I blew up his camera," Danny smiled mischievously.

"Well, I'm glad to hear you're alright. I hope this all ends soon, for your sake."

"I'm just glad it's a Saturday. I would hate to have to go to school today." His parents laughed.

"I'm really proud of you Danny," his father gushed as he clapped a hand on Danny's shoulder, making his knees buckle. "Not because of what you do as the ghost boy, but because of how well you're handling this. That's the sign of a true Fenton."

"Thanks Dad."

"I always knew you had it in you to be a ghost hunter. I said it from day one, didn't I?"

"Alright, I think you should get dressed," his mom interrupted, knowing that Jack would start squealing about how happy he was to have a real ghost hunter in the family. "We don't want to be late for the press conference and you want to look your best."

Danny nodded as he headed into the shower. Then he looked into his closet and found his blue button down shirt that matched his ice blue eyes and a pair of black pants. He was fully dressed except for the black tie, which he was having trouble with. His sister walked into the room, just as Danny was about to get frustrated and screw the tie. She was wearing a black cocktail dress with spaghetti strap shoulders and frilly bottoms that swished as she walked. Danny had to admit she did look really nice.

"Need some help?" she asked as she noticed Danny fiddling with his tie.

"Please!" he begged as she grabbed his tie.

"You know, you clean up pretty nice little bro," she said as she continued tying his tie.

"Thanks. You too," he complimented.

"Don't get used to this. I'm about to die in these heels."

"I was just going to say the same thing except minus the heels part," Danny remarked while smiling at her.

"It's good to see you smiling Danny, given the situation. It's good you're keeping your morale up. There, done. See, it's not that hard," she joked.

"Easy for you to say," he remarked. He looked into his mirror as he fiddled with the bottom of his tie.

"Relax, it's going to be fine. You don't have to answer every question, and if it gets to be too much, just fly away. Just remember Danny, by calling this press conference, you're calling the shots. You're in charge, and if they get out of control, you can just leave. You're the one with the powers, don't be afraid to use them."

"Thanks Jazz." He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a huge hug. "Thanks for everything."

"It's nothing. You are my baby brother after all, and someone has to look out for you."

He smiled at her as his mother's voice drifted from downstairs. "Jazz, Danny, hurry up! We don't want to be late!"

Danny and Jazz walked downstairs and met their parents, who, to no surprise, were still wearing their usual hazmat suits.

"Oh Danny, you look so handsome! And Jazz, you look lovely! I need a picture."

"Mom!" Jazz shouted, exasperated.

"Just a quickie. It's not everyday that your children head off to a press conference. Alright now…where's Danny?" His mother and father started searching for him, not sure where he went. Then it clicked.

"Daniel Fenton, you turn visible right this instant and let me take a picture! We're not leaving for the conference before I get a picture!"

Danny appeared standing next to Jazz, looking depressed that his mother had caught him. He hated posing for pictures, especially when his grandmother was around. He'd never met a more camera happy person in his life. His mother obviously inherited some of her genes.

"There you are, alright, smile both of you!" his mother demanded as she took the picture.

"Alright, to the Fenton Ghost Assault Vehicle!" his father cheered.

They started pulling out of the garage when they were met with bright flashing lights of photographers. Paparazzi and fans covered the entire corner around the Fenton house so they couldn't get out.

"Argh, aren't they supposed to be at the press conference?" his father asked angrily.

"I guess they wanted to follow us there," this mother offered.

Jack's fingers moved towards the weapon activation button but Maddie slapped his hand away. "Jack, they're civilians, you can't use weapons on them!"

"But if we can't get through, we're going to be late!" Jazz panicked as Jack pouted.

"Not if I can help it," Danny stated. He shut his eyes and went intangible, and then turned the entire RV intangible. "Drive!" Danny told his dad as he opened his glowing eyes. Jack backed up the car right through the photographers and drove it down the street. Once out of the way of the mob, Danny turned the car tangible again.

"Danny, that was amazing!" his mother complimented as Danny blushed. They continued to drive to the town hall to find that, just like their house, the town hall was packed, but this time there were police to clear the way for them. They parked along the back and a group of police officers greeted them as they opened the doors and stepped out of the RV. Once Danny emerged large screams emitted from the fans near the car and they raised signs declaring Danny their one true love.

"We've been asked to take you safely inside," one of the police cops told them. Danny nodded in agreement as three police officers flanked each member of the family. They ushered Jack through first, then Maddie, then Danny, and finally Jazz. As they walked in between all the screaming fans and paparazzi, Danny thought about going invisible. He quickly turned the thought down though as he realized that it wouldn't really do any good since they knew he was there anyways. Besides, he didn't think using his powers would be that good of an idea while surrounding by squealing fan girls; it would probably make them scream louder.

Finally they made it into the safety of the stage wings where they were hidden from the people already sitting outside.

"I'm going to go check it out, see how many people are there," Danny stated.

"Are you sure?" his mother asked.

"I'd prefer to be shocked now when no one can see me than when I'm standing behind the microphone," he reasoned as he turned invisible. He walked onto the stage and looked in shock. The auditorium was packed with people. Every seat was taken except for seven in the first row. He knew that five of them were for his family and Tucker and Sam, but he was curious as to who the other two belonged to. He saw Paulina sitting close to the front wearing a t-shirt with his face on it. Half of his face was the raven haired blue eyed Danny Fenton, while the other half was the white haired green eyed Danny Phantom. Of course, now that she discovered they were the same person she would have a crush on him as well. Even though Danny had desired that for such a long time, he found he no longer wanted it. She only liked him because of his ghost half, not the human half that he cared about the most. He saw Dash and the rest of the football team smirking. He knew he should expect some wise comments from them. He saw some of his teachers and wondered what they were thinking about. He looked around and didn't see Lancer anywhere. He thought Lancer would be here for sure. Maybe he was just running late, but then again, Lancer was never late. He continued to survey the crowd, looking for familiar faces. Then he noticed Valerie, pouting in the corner. He really wondered how she felt. She had long hated Danny Phantom and had even come close to severely hurting him once or twice, but she also had a huge crush on Danny Fenton. He was interested in seeing what she was planning on doing next. Would she see the error of her ways and stop hunting him, like his parents? Or will this make her even more infuriated and make her want to hunt him more? Judging by her facial expression right now, he really couldn't say. Then again, he didn't really think Valerie could say either.

The rest of the crowd seemed to be made up of newscasters. Danny noticed that even big name new stations like CNN and MSNBC had even shown up. He figured that the rest of the country may or may not have heard about the ghost problems in Amity Park, but they sure would be interested in seeing proof that a ghost exists. He even saw the Discovery Channel! This must be really big. Butterflies started churning in his stomach as he headed back to his parents.

"CNN, MSNBC, and the Discovery Channel are all here!" Danny stated worriedly to his parents as he became visible next to them.

"Danny, you have to relax. It's going to be okay. Just breathe. You can do this," his mother comforted. Danny then noticed Mr. Lancer standing behind the stage with them.

"Mr. Lancer?" Danny asked.

"Well well, Danny Fenton. I must say I was extremely surprised to hear your name being blasted from every station on the radio all day yesterday. And here I thought you'd never amount to anything," Lancer joked as he smiled. Danny smiled back. "Good luck out there," he wished as he shook Danny's hand.

"Thank you sir."

Mr. Lancer turned around and left to find his seat as Tucker and Sam showed up and gave Danny a hug.

"We just want you to know that we're right beside you Danny," Sam reassured.

"Yeah, we'll be sitting in the front row next to your parents. If it's ever too much, just concentrate on us. We'll be there," Tucker promised.

"Don't worry, we've got your back. We'll stick up for you."

"Thanks guys. You're the best friends a guy could ever have," Danny thanked.

"Well, at least the best friends a half ghost could ever have," Tucker joked as the three of them started laughing. Unfortunately, Paulina must have been able to distinguish his laugh because he heard her voice shouting.

"I heard Danny! He's behind the stage right now!" All the fan girls started screaming.

"I don't know what's going to be harder, the rabid fan girls or the nosy press," Tucker commented.

"The rabid fan girls," Danny and Sam both replied.

Then Jazz rushed over to them. "Alright you two, give him your luck and then go sit down. It's a minute 'til eleven and we need to get started."

Tucker and Sam both gave him a hug and then hurried off to their seats. Danny could tell when they finally reached them because he heard cameras taking pictures and more news casters talking. They obviously had started bothering Tucker and Sam. Then his parents walked over to Danny, wished him luck, told him he'd be fine, and gave him a huge hug as they too walked to their seats to the increasing sound of cameras. The mayor came over, told Jazz what to do, and then walked past Danny, giving him the cold shoulder as he sat down as well. Clearly he still believed that Danny had attacked him. Then, the only people left behind the stage were Jazz and Danny.

"Don't worry little brother, you'll do fine. Just remember what I told you in your room," she consoled as she gave him a hug and then a kiss on the cheek. For once, Danny didn't mind. Then he watched her walk up to the platform as white flashing lights peppered the stage.

"On behalf of my brother, I'd like to thank you all for coming. I'd just like to lay out some protocol. First, please treat Danny with the respect he deserves. He is not some animal out on display; he is a living breathing person who has saved your lives on countless occasions. He has willingly arranged this conference to answer your questions honestly and quickly, and therefore deserves your respect.

"Second, there will be no questions asked regarding his personal life." Danny heard a lot of newscasters groan in disappointment. "This isn't a very illogical request, since none of you seemed to care about Danny Fenton's personal life before yesterday, so why should it make any difference now?

"Third, Danny has the right to refuse to answer any question he wishes as well as the right to leave whenever he wants, regardless of whether you've asked all your questions or not.

"Fourth, this will run like a professional press conference. In other words, if you have a question you will raise your hand and Danny will call on you. Do not overwhelm him with a million and one questions all at the same time; just be patient and wait your turn. If you are badgering Danny with questions the mayor has been kind enough to inform me that the police will escort you from the premises and place you in prison for the rest of the day.

"Fifth, would the fan girls please refrain from screaming and shouting and all that annoying stuff that fan girls do. This is not the time, nor the place. If this happens, you will find yourself in the arms of a police escort on your way to jail. Also, any questions that border on the lines of 'Will you marry me?' or 'Will you go out with me?' are forbidden, and anyone asking them will also be escorted to jail by the police.

"Finally, and probably most importantly, I would like to let you know that once this press conference is finished and all your questions answered, we expect you to leave us alone. We're not celebrities who's job is to pose for pictures day and night. We're students and adults who need to attend school, go to work, and have fun with our friends. We don't want people following us around taking pictures all the time. We just want to live our lives in peace, or as much peace as we can, and we don't need paparazzi following us everywhere we go. Please respect our wishes, and be mindful that we have lives too, and we would like to live them. And now, I would like to introduce to you my brother Daniel Fenton."

Jazz walked off the stage to applause and Danny took a deep breath and walked onto the stage, ready to plunge into the greatest and most brutal battle yet.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the cliffie. I know a lot of you have been looking forward to the press conference, but I'm going to make you wait one more chapter. 


	4. The Most Brutal Battle

A/N: Alright, I don't really know how the whole replacing chapters thing works, but I decided to replace a chapter, this chapter in fact. As I started writing more, I totally changed the upcoming plot, so I had to go back and change some of the references that I left in this chapter. Namely, the part when Skulker comes. Otherwise, it's pretty much the same.

So, here's the long awaited press conference, again, and I hope you all enjoy the new twist!

* * *

Chapter Four  
The Most Brutal Battle

If Danny thought there were a lot of flashes during Jazz's introduction, it was nothing compared to the amount he faced. He could feel the excitement from the crowd as they saw Danny in a new light. He looked around at all the faces as he tried to gain his bearings. They all had a different look: some of adoration, some of repulsion, some of disbelief, some of confusion. He looked into the front row and found the only faces that mattered smiling up at him, encouraging him. He smiled back and then faced forwards.

"Good morning. I'm Danny Fenton, or as more of you probably know me, Danny Phantom. And, just to get it out of the way," he stated as he stepped out from behind the podium and went ghost. Almost the entire audience gasped as one as the white rings formed around his waist and traveled up and down his body, changing his Sunday best to a black and white jumpsuit, his raven hair to snow white, and his icy blue eyes to glowing green. Then white rings formed around him again as he turned back to his human form and stepped behind the podium again. "Now, my intro won't be as eloquent or formal as my sisters, but what can you expect; I'm only fourteen. At first I wasn't going to have an introduction and just get right into the questions, but I decided against it only moments ago, so I'm kinda making this up as I go. I just wanted to let you know that I am thankful you all came, even though I've been dreading this all night and didn't get any sleep whatsoever do to my unending amount of nerves. But, I figured this would be the best way to lay everything out in the open so we can all start on a level field.

"Alright, so let's get the basics out of the way. I'm Danny Fenton, my parents are ghost hunters Jack and Maddie Fenton, and I'm a freshman at Casper High. I have a loving and supportive sister Jazz and two best friends Tucker and Sam whom I've known since kindergarten.

"As most of you may know, my parents are extremely gifted and brilliant scientists who devote their time and energy to ghost hunting and research. Well, one day I decided to poke around our downstairs lab and got in a little accident. The students at Casper High will remember it as the week I was out of school a little over seven months ago. After that lab accident, Tucker, Sam, and I discovered that I had ghost powers. We were unsure of what to do at first, but telling anyone was out of the question, so we kept it a secret. Then about a week later ghosts started emerging from the ghost portal in our lab. We realized I needed to use my ghost abilities to stop the ghosts, and thus Danny Phantom was born.

"So, to ask the question you're all thinking, am I really a ghost? Well, not in the way you think. I'm only half ghost, which is why I can change between the two forms. So technically right now, as I stand before you, I could honestly say that I'm not a ghost, but I can't necessarily say that I'm human either.

"So, I think that's enough of me talking. Knowing how these things work on television someone will probably ask questions I just gave the answers for, but oh well. So, I guess I'd like to ask if anyone has any questions."

Danny noticed that almost everyone raised their hand, everyone except the seven people in the front row. He was expecting this. He had hoped he'd get enough of the questions out of the way with his little intro, but obviously not enough. The hard part was choosing who. He figured he'd go with a news station, since they'd probably ask the more important questions.

"Um…how about Channel 6," he said pointing.

The reporter stood up. "Mr. Fenton, or would you prefer Mr. Phantom?" she asked. Danny noticed that Dash and his fellow jocks were snickering.

"Just Danny's fine."

"Alright. So Danny, did you die in the lab accident that caused your transformation?"

"Well, the theory stands from my parents that I half died, so I guess."

Danny pointed to another reporter. "Did your parents know you are half ghost?"

"No. I never told anyone."

"How do your friends and sister know then?"

"My friends were there when it happened and my sister found out on her own."

He pointed to yet another reporter. "Exactly what happened to give you ghost powers? What kind of lab accident are we talking about?"

"I'd rather not say. My parents and I have decided to keep that classified." He heard moans of disapproval from the audience but he silenced them by pointing to another reporter.

"Are you a good ghost or a bad ghost?"

Here it was, the chance for Danny to clear his name. "I like to think of myself as a good ghost, since I sacrifice not only my grades and my sleep but the time I could use to hang out with my friends and family to fight ghosts on a nightly basis. Just ask my sister, she knows better than anyone that I hardly sleep and I come home injured almost every night. I fight to keep a C average in school because I can never do homework or study. You'd think that having two of the most brilliant scientists for parents and a genius for a sister would pass on to me and guarantee me a good grade, but I never get the chance to find out because I don't have the time. I give so much of my human life to protect this town from ghost invasions, so I think I deserve the title of being a good ghost."

He heard a lot of applause after he finished his statement and felt glad. At least a large group of people believed him, and that was enough for him.

"But if you're such a good ghost that sacrifices everything for the protection of Amity Park, then why do you consistently destroy the town and attack its citizens?"

"Alright, the destruction of the town really isn't a fair one to pin on me. I'm not a perfect aim and I do miss sometimes, and I can't really control what I get thrown into. If I had it my way I wouldn't get thrown into anything. Destruction of the city and saving the day kinda go hand in hand. And if you're referring to the incident with the Mayor, I'd like to state once and for all that the Mayor was at that time being overshadowed by a ghost enemy of mine who wanted to ruin my life by framing me. I would never hurt an innocent person. Besides, if I was a bad ghost and wanted to hurt the town, why would I spend all my time fighting ghosts and making enemies in the Ghost Zone? Wouldn't I want to let the ghosts run free or even help them destroy the town instead of risking my neck to fight them?"

He saw a lot of people nodding their heads in agreement as they finally started to understand. He pointed to another reporter.

"Danny, do you know who that red-suited ghost hunter is that always fights you?"

Danny didn't even glance towards Valerie. He knew that she probably looked worried, but he didn't want to give the press any hint by looking over at her. He'd look over some other time; right now he was keeping his gaze on the reporter who asked the question.

"No, I don't. I just hope that after today she'll realize that I'm not a bad ghost and thus will stop hunting me. I'd like to take this moment to say that even though she thinks I ruined her life, it wasn't really my fault and that it was another ghost that I was trying to stop. And that's all I'm going to say on the issue." He heard more groans from the reporters, but he didn't care.

"So does that mean that she's in this room?" the reporter asked, looking around.

"I don't know who she is, so how can I very well know whether she's here or not? She could be in here or she could be watching by television. Either way, I hope she gets the message."

He pointed to another person, this time someone who lived in Amity. He thought he saw her working at the Nasty Burger once or twice. "Danny, what are you going to do after this press conference?"

"Hopefully go home reporter free and go back to regular life, or as regular as it can be for me. I really don't intend on doing anything drastic like quitting school or anything like that. I just want everything to go back the way it was before I was caught on camera."

"If you could go back in time and prevent yourself from being exposed, would you?" another reporter asked.

"Of course I would. There was a reason I wanted to keep it a secret in the first place."

"But do you realize what this means for people across the globe? You are living proof that ghosts exist!"

"Yeah, and so are all the other ghosts I fight. I didn't need to be exposed to prove that ghosts were real," he stated, getting a bit short. Then he pointed to another reporter to get her to shut up.

"What kind of ghost powers do you have?"

"I'm not going to list them all off. I'm sure most of you have seen them anyways."

"Are you still learning more powers?"

"Constantly."

"How fast can you fly?"

Danny knew this was going to start. Now they'll start asking him to pretty much brag in front of the camera, which is what he was looking forward to the least.

"The last time we clocked it I was at about 173 mph." He heard some whistles from the crowd.

Another reporter stood up. "Do you check your powers often?"

"Occasionally, just to test things to see how well they work."

Another reporter stood up, as all the rules Jazz had laid out earlier about Danny calling on people disappeared. "What did you mean by overshadowing?"

"Taking over a person's body and controlling what they do or say."

"And can you do that?"

"Yes, but I don't like to."

"How much can you lift?"

"How far can you fly before getting tired?"

"Do you have to eat as a ghost?"

"Does your heart still beat?"

The questions started coming at him like crazy. He started to feel overwhelmed. Finally, Jazz stood up and marched onto the stage and stood behind the podium.

"Excuse me! Excuse me!" she yelled, trying to grab everyone's attention, but to no avail. "Everybody shut up!" she yelled and immediately everyone stopped talking. "There, that's better. Only one of you may ask a question at a time and you may only ask it when Danny points to you! If this happens again, the conference is over!" She smiled at Danny and then walked back to her seat.

"Alright, to answer all the questions in one big statement. I don't really know how much I can lift, but it's a lot. I don't know how far I can fly since I've never really tried. No, I don't have to eat as a ghost and I really don't like to. Yes, my heart still beats but not when I'm a ghost. No, I don't have to breathe as a ghost, no it's not hard to go intangible or invisible, yes I can turn other things intangible or invisible with me, yes ghost shields hurt, and no ecto-blasts do not have an automatic aim. Does that answer everyone's questions about my powers?" He took the stunned silence as a yes. But just as he was about to move on, he saw a little five year old girl in a wheelchair raise her hand timidly.

"Yes, the little girl. What's your name?"

"Alice."

"Well hello Alice, do you have a question for me?"

She nodded her head. "Can you go invisdible or intangidible right now?"

If it were any other person, Danny would have refused, but as he looked at her he felt kind of sad for her, so he nodded his head in agreement and a large smiled graced her face. He smiled back as he turned invisible and disappeared from sight. He heard her gasp in awe with a smile on her face and looked pleased to not only see that she was happy, but that Dash and his friends looked dumbfounded. He was sure that hearing him be Danny Phantom was one thing, but seeing him actually use his powers was totally different. Danny then reappeared and then turned intangible, earning more gasps and looks of shock as he walked straight through the podium.

"Alright, anymore questions about my powers?" he asked as he walked around to the other side of the podium. "No? Alright then, on to something new."

"How many ghosts would you say you fight a day?"

"At least one, sometimes two."

"And they just keep coming back?"

"Yeah. Since ghost's can't die, the only way they can be stopped is by trapping them in the Fenton Thermos and then putting them back into the Ghost Zone, but they can come out again just as easily, so it's a never ending battle."

"So if ghosts can't die, then does that mean you can't die either?"

"I don't know. I'm not fully ghost, so I don't know. Our theory is that I'll turn full ghost, but even that we don't know, and I'm not really keen on trying it out either."

"What is this Ghost Zone? You've mentioned it twice."

"Oh, sorry. It's pretty much another dimension where the ghosts live and belong. That's why I try to return as many ghosts as I can back, but they just want to stay on Earth. I guess old habits die hard."

"Who is the most annoying ghost you've ever fought?"

"The Box Ghost, no question. He shows up the most."

"What about the worst ghost you've ever fought?"

"I don't know. I've fought some pretty hard ones, but I'd have to say Pariah Dark and the Fright Night. They're probably the most challenging." In reality Vlad should be on the list, but he knew Vlad was watching the TV and he didn't want to give him the satisfaction of making him think that he was a difficult bad guy.

"Now aren't ghosts supposed to be naturally malevolent?" the Discovery Channel reporter asked.

"Yes. They become angry due to their unfinished business or the fact that they were ripped from their bodies and stuck in the Ghost Zone." He noticed his parents smiling happily at each other upon hearing his response, proud of him for actually listening to their explanations of ghosts.

"So what makes you a good ghost then?"

"Well, I'm not fully ghost, so I still have my human emotions and sense of right and wrong."

"If you could go back in time before the lab accident and not become half ghost, would you?"

"I…never really thought about it. I don't know, and I really don't want to answer that."

"Well, wouldn't the answer be simple? I mean, why wouldn't you want ghost powers?"

"Because of the bad publicity," Danny answered smartly. Danny didn't really want to tell them that the reason he would refrain from doing it would be to just be normal again and not have to worry about hunting ghosts and having to deal with the press. He could just be normal Danny Fenton.

But, unknown to the press, Danny did get a chance to do it all over again. At one point a ghost named Desiree granted Sam's wish that Danny and Sam had never met, and since Sam convinced him to go into the ghost portal, he never had powers. But, in the end, he chose to go back into the portal to become Danny Phantom.

The sound of a citizen of Amity shook him out of his thoughts. "Danny, have you ever seen Elvis?"

Danny started laughing along with some of the other people in the crowd. "No, I've never met Elvis, or any other dead, or supposedly dead, celebrity."

"Danny, do you…" but the reporter was cut off by Danny's ghost sense.

"Oh man, not here!" he moaned as Skulker flew into the room. People in the audience screamed as he made his appearance and cameras started flashing like mad as they turned onto him. Even though people were scared, none of them dared to leave. They wanted to watch the action. Skulker looked shocked and a little nervous as all he saw were white lights flashing towards him but he finally regained his bearings.

"Ghost Child, I bring a message."

"From who?" Danny asked puzzled as the cameras turned towards him. From Plasmius? Was this going to be some angry complaint about letting his secret out? Well, Plasmius could go suck a cheese-head for all he cared, it's not like he asked for this.

"I have been asked not to say," Skulker stated as the cameras turned towards him. Danny knew he wouldn't, but it was worth a shot anyways. "But, I have come to tell you that your torment is just beginning."

"My 'torment is just the beginning', what's that supposed to mean?" Danny asked as he thought in silence, surprised that Skulker was just sitting there, like he wasn't supposed to attack him until he figured it out. Whoever this mystery ghost was wanted Danny to figure it out for himself, in front of everyone. But how would a ghost know about this conference, or that his secret was blown in the first place? They didn't get this kind of news in the Ghost Zone. He thought of Vlad, but he quickly shot that theory down. Vlad wouldn't want to reveal Danny's secret because he could just flip around and reveal his. So how else did this ghost know, unless… "This ghost that sent you, he's the one that tipped off the reporter! That's how he knew exactly where to place the mike and the camera, and that's how he knew I'd be here!"

"He also said to offer his congratulations for figuring it out, as he knew you would. Although, I must say you figured it out much earlier than I would have supposed. Well done Ghost Child. Now to collect my reward for delivering this message."

"Yeah yeah, you'll kill me so my pelt will lie at the foot of your bed," Danny remarked as he went ghost, as the audience gasped again. "Oh give it a rest will you?" Danny asked exasperated at the crowd. "You all knew that was going to happen so you shouldn't really be surprised anymore!"

Danny flew up into the air and started blasting ecto-blasts at Skulker as he dodged the ones Skulker threw back, trying to steer clear of as many people as possible. Danny turned sharply and flew towards Skulker, hitting him in the chest which sent him sailing through the wall.

"Tucker, thermos!" Danny demanded as he looked behind him at Tucker.

"I don't have one!" Tucker shouted back as Skulker emerged through the wall again. Danny cupped both his hands together and sent a large ecto-blast at him, sending him into the wall, triggering more gasps from the audience.

"What?" Danny yelled.

"I don't have one!"

"You don't have one? Why not?"

"I didn't think you'd be fighting any ghosts today."

"When am I not fighting any ghosts?" Danny asked sarcastically. "Sam?" She shook her head.

"Jazz?" She shook her head as well. While Danny was occupied with trying to find a thermos, Skulker shot an ecto-blast at Danny which sent him down to the ground in front of his family. The audience gasped as one.

"So none of us brought a thermos?" he asked them as Skulker flew up over Danny, pointing the gun at him.

"Sorry Danny, but no," Tucker apologized.

"At last Ghost Child, you're mine," Skulker claimed triumphantly as he charged up his gun and shot it at Danny. Danny created an ecto-dome, encircling him, his family, and anyone near them inside it.

Danny stood up, his hands still glowing and in front of him as he kept the shield up. Skulker meanwhile continuously tried to get through it by shooting beams at it or kicking it with his foot, and each time he did Danny flinched from the increase in energy it took for him too keep the shield up while Skulker made contact with it.

"Tucker, it was your turn to be in charge of the Thermos," Danny reprimanded.

"Sorry, I seriously didn't think we'd have to deal with any ghosts right now," he apologized.

"Alright, we're going to need to go to Operation Purple-Backed Gorilla then. Got it Tucker?"

"Already on it," he stated proudly, pulling out his PDA.

Skulker saw the PDA and started hammering the dome even harder with everything he had. Then he heard the familiar tone of the William Tell Overture and he looked at the PDA strapped to his arm. "Do the Macarena on stage," he read. "You've got to be kidding me."

His ecto-skeleton pulled him onto stage and started forcing him to do the Macarena as the audience laughed and the camera men filmed.

After a few rounds Danny looked at Tucker. "Alright, now how about for the real Operation Purple-Backed Gorilla?"

"Gotcha." Tucker typed another command into his PDA and sent it to the one attached to Skulker's arm. The William Tell Overture sounded again as Skulker looked at his arm again.

"Fly to the Ghost Zone and take a nap? Oh come on!" he moaned as his jet packs fired up and he flew through the ceiling.

Danny put his hands down as the dome around them disappeared. He almost collapsed to the floor from lack of energy before Jazz caught him. He was exhausted from keeping a dome that large up for that long, especially with Skulker hammering at it with all he had. He smiled his thanks to Jazz and flew back up on stage to thunderous applause from the audience. The white rings traveled up and down his body, transforming him back to human as he stood behind the podium again, leaning on it slightly for support.

"Alright, sorry about that."

"Who was that?"

"That was Skulker, or as he says it, 'The Mighty Skulker: The Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter'," Danny mocked as he made the quotation mark symbols with his fingers. "He collects rare and unusual ghosts for his collection. He used to want me to be a part of it as well, but now he just wants my 'pelt' to decorate his house." The audience looked somewhat revolted. "Yeah, that's my thought too."

"But why did he do the Macarena?"

"Because we told him to. When we first met him, he found Tucker's PDA and decided to use it to upgrade his ecto-skeleton. Well, we found out that he had to obey the schedule that was programmed into the PDA, so Tucker found a way to hack into Skulker's PDA and program other things into it, like doing the Macarena or going back to the Ghost Zone for a nap."

"Does that dome-thing take up a lot of energy?"

"It takes up a decent amount, yeah. I don't use it that often and when I do it's definitely not that big, so was kinda tiring, especially with Skulker continuing to hit it all the time."

"Do Tucker, Sam, and Jazz help you often?"

"Constantly. They're always there to help me when I need it."

"But aren't you afraid for their safety?"

"Of course, but they just won't stay away, so we just gave up trying."

At that point Sam stood up and marched over to the microphone. "Sorry Danny, but I have to say something. Hi, I'm Sam Manson. If any of you have a problem with Tucker and me helping Danny out, then I suggest you get over it. Tucker and I will always be there for Danny and we know that he'll always be there for us. We know that he'd never let anything bad happen to us and he never has. So, get over it. Danny is not doing anything wrong by allowing us to help him. Got it?"

Sam smiled at Danny and walked off the stage, giving her parents an evil look as she sat down next to Tucker.

"Was that directed towards the whole audience or mostly your parents?" Danny heard Tucker ask.

"Mostly my parents."

Danny continued answering questions for a few more hours before the press finally couldn't dish out any more questions. Danny wanted to call it quits way earlier, but he didn't want them coming to the house with another question they forgot to ask. Finally, Danny didn't see another hand in the air.

"Does this mean there are no more questions?" he asked hopefully. Silence echoed throughout the room as Danny scanned it with joyful eyes.

"Danny! Will you go out with me!" he heard a familiar latino voice yell. He directed his eyes towards the sound and noticed Paulina standing up, looking excited. "You know I've always loved you!"

"Me or Danny Phantom?" he asked bitterly as he noticed police men walking down the isle towards her.

"I've loved you both! I could never admit my feelings for you before Danny, but we're meant to be together!" she shouted back, her voice high pitched and her eyes shining in glory that he was actually looking at her, actually talking to her, however cruel.

Finally the police made it to her isle and she looked at them in anger and hatred. They were going to pull her away from her one and only love, her Danny.

"No, no! You can't do this! Danny, make them stop! You know we want to be together, you know it!" she yelled as they dragged her down the main isle. "I know you've always had a crush on me! You've loved me since the moment you laid eyes on me!"

"Sorry Paulina, but ship has sailed, once I realized what a shallow and arrogant jerk you really are."

Paulina looked at him in shock as she was being pulled out the door. "You don't mean that!" she yelled as she managed to peak her head into the doorframe before the police yanked it back. "I know you don't! You're just shocked, you're..." but her rants were cut off by the shut doors as two new cops stood next to it, daring another fan-girl to so much as move.

"Alright...that was interesting. I'm almost afraid to ask this, but does anyone else have any more questions?" When no one else raised their hand, Danny immediately felt a rush of joy and energy. "Sweet!" he yelled. "Alright, conference dismissed, or however you end one of these things."

People started leaving out the door, happy to finally be able to go home while even more people started flocking towards the stage. Jazz leapt onto the stage and gave her brother a hug.

"Jazz," he moaned.

"I'm so proud of you! You did brilliant!"

"Thanks Jazz."

"Oh Danny! We're so proud of you!" his mother gushed as she ran over to him and gave him a big hug and a kiss on the forehead.

"Good job son, I knew you could do it," Jack complimented as he lifted Danny into a rib-cracking hug.

"Uh, Dad…human right now…need to breathe," Danny gasped.

"Sorry son," he apologized, letting Danny go.

"Well done Mr. Fenton," Mr. Lancer congratulated, shaking his hand. "I think this merits an exempt on the upcoming public speaking assignment."

"Thanks Mr. Lancer!" Danny thanked excitedly.

"My pleasure. Will you be at school Monday?"

"Yes he will," Maddie answered.

"Well then, I'll see you then."

Then Tucker and Sam ran up to him, each giving him a hug and congratulating him as well for a job well done as the security guards started hauling all the fan girls away. Now the auditorium looked really empty except for a few stragglers.

"Hey guys, will you excuse me please? There are some things I need to take care of," Danny asked as he spotted a woman wheeling an excited Alice out into the isle.

Danny went invisible and flew to into the isle Alice was coming out of and then reappeared in front of her.

"Boo," he said jokingly as Alice laughed. He looked up at the woman pushing her who looked a little startled at his sudden appearance. "Hi, I'm Danny Fenton," he greeted as he extended his hand "but you already knew that I'm sure." She took it and smiled at him.

"I'm Susan Waters and this is my husband Chris," she introduced, indicating the man following behind her.

"Pleasure to meet you sir," Danny greeted as he extended a hand to Chris.

"Pleasure's all mine," Chris returned as he shook his hand.

"Listen, I'm sorry for Alice's question. If…" Susan began to apologize.

"Oh, don't worry about it. It was going to come from someone, so it might as well have been from someone as cute as her." Both of them just smiled.

"Susan, I wanna drink of water!" Alice requested.

"Alright. Excuse us for a moment," Susan stated as she pushed Alice over to the nearby drinking fountain.

"Susan? Aren't you her parents?" Danny asked confused.

"No, unfortunately we're not. Alice's parents died in a car accident when she was only two and she became paralyzed from the hip down," Chris answered as he watched Susan help Alice get a drink. "You see, Susan and I work at the orphanage down the street for disabled and handicapped children. After she was out of the hospital, she came to live with us. There are about ten other children there, and we have another two associates who live with us to help," Chris continued.

"Wow. That's really sad," Danny stated.

"Yes. That's why when Alice said she wanted to see you, we just had to take her."

"Would you mind if I took Alice on a little trip with me?" Danny asked. "It won't be very long, only a couple of minutes."

"Of course."

Danny walked over to Susan and Alice as Chris followed behind him. He knelt down to Alice's height. "Alice, would you like to go on a trip with me?"

Her face brightened up. "Can I, can I?"

"Chris already said it was alright."

"Yay!" she cheered as Danny smiled. The white rings formed around his waste as he turned into his ghost self and smiled at the look of awe on her face.

"Alright, I'm warning you, I'm very cold. You see my friends over there on the stage?" he asked as she nodded. "Well, they always complain how cold I am when we go on a trip, so I'm just warning you, okay?"

"Okay."

He lifted her out of the wheelchair and cradled her in his arms. He felt her shiver.

"You alright?" he asked. "I felt you shiver."

"You're just cold!" she stated and then started laughing. Danny started laughing too.

"Alright, are you ready?" he asked.

"Yeah!"

"Don't be afraid, okay? Nothing's going to happen to you."

"Okay."

"Alright, here we go!" He turned both of them intangible and they flew through the roof in to the dusk.

Both Susan and Chris started to tear as they saw how happy Alice was. "I hope no one ever says another bad thing about that boy," Chris stated. "He may be a ghost, but he's got a heart of gold."

From the shadows in the assembly room, Valerie watched with confusion at the scene that just took place.

* * *

"Let's go higher!" Alice squealed as Danny flew them around Amity. Danny obeyed and climbed upwards, feeling joy at hearing Alice's squeal of delight.

"Danny, this is so much fun. Thank you."

"You're quite welcome. You know, you're probably the cutest little girl I've ever met."

She giggled. "Can we go faster?"

"Can we go faster?" he asked in a mocking voice. "Of course we can, hang on!" Danny started building up speed as the zoomed through the sunset sky over Amity, Alice squealing the entire time.

Finally, their joyride was over and Danny returned her back to her caretakers. He set her in her wheelchair and turned back to human form. He looked up at Chris and Susan and saw that they had tears in their eyes.

"Thank you so much Danny," Susan thanked. "We've never seen Alice so happy."

"Yes thank you. I swear to you that if anyone ever says anything bad about you, they'll have me to answer to."

"Thank you sir, that means a lot to me."

"Danny!" Alice yelled as she frantically gestured for him to come closer. "I have a secret for you!"

"Oh really, what?" he asked as he leaned closer. She moved towards his ear and then changed direction and kissed him on the cheek.

"Haha, I got you too!" she squealed excitedly.

"It's a game she likes to play," Chris explained. Danny smiled.

"Alright Alice, I think that's enough for one day. Say good-bye to Danny," Susan stated.

"Bye Danny! Thanks for the ride! I'll miss you!" Alice shouted as he saw her little arm waving behind her retreating wheelchair.

"Bye Alice!" he waved back.

"And thank you again, for everything," Chris thanked as he placed his hand fondly on his shoulder and then followed after the others.

He stood there, watching them leave as he felt two warm hands on his shoulders. He turned around to find his mom and dad, tears in their eyes.

"We saw what you did Danny, and that was probably the nicest thing we've ever seen! We're so proud of you!"

"You know, I think that's the third time you've said that today."

They all laughed as they hugged him.

"Alright Fentons" Jack bellowed loudly "oh and Tucker and Sam of course" he added as an after thought "we're all going out for dinner, Danny's choice!"

"Sweet!" Danny shouted. "My choice huh? Well then, we're going…"

"To PF Changs," Tucker, Sam, and Jazz finished along with Danny. Danny looked around at them and they all started laughing. Then they headed towards the Fenton RV and headed off towards the restaurant.


	5. Dinner with the Fentons

A/N: Thanks so much for all the reviews! I don't think I've ever gotten that many reviews for a chapter! So thank you! I hope this next chapter will be a good follow up! So far, it's my favorite chapter, followed closely behind the previous one, so I hope you like it!It's justa fun chapter that I thought of while out to dinner with my family.

Note: CHAPTER FOUR HAS BEEN EDITED! As I started writing more, I decided to make some major changes to the main plot of the story (namely, the person who frames Danny). The more I thought about it, the more I didn't like my reasons for making Vlad tip off the reporter, so I decided to change it. That means that the Skulker section in the previous chapter has been changed with clues as to who this new villian is. It's not anything extremely important yet, but I just thought I'd let you know. The villian is no longer Vlad.

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom or PF Changs (now THAT'S something I'd like to own!)

* * *

Chapter Five  
Dinner with the Fentons

As they walked towards the front door of the restaurant, Danny noticed with great joy that the press wasn't following him and he smiled. The press conference was obviously worth it, and actually wasn't as bad as he expected. Now all he had to worry about was his first day of school.

They walked into the restaurant as Danny looked around awkwardly. People were all eating their meals, not paying attention to the people that just walked in the door which made Danny breathe in a sigh of relief. Jack walked up to the host's podium.

"Good evening. Welcome to PF Changs. How many…wait a minute, you're Jack Fenton!"

"Yes, I am," his father stated slowly, seeing where this was heading.

"Then that means…" the host muttered as he looked around Jack and saw Danny. "Danny Fenton!" he screamed as he ran over to him and started shaking his hand. "It's an honor to meet you!"

"Um, right, thanks," Danny stated awkwardly, not really knowing what to do. He knew how to handle the press, but he didn't know how to handle the fans, or just people in general. By now the entire restaurant had heard the commotion and stood up to see the now infamous Danny Fenton.

Thankfully, his sister, like always, took charge. "Alright, I think that's enough. We just got back from an eight hour long press conference and we're tired and hungry, so can you please get back to your job and get us a table?" Jazz asked angrily.

"Right…of course. I can even give you a private table, away from everyone else. Would you like that?"

"Yes, that would be most appreciated," Jazz answered.

"Okay, right this way."

As they walked towards the back of the restaurant, Danny noticed everyone pointing and staring at him in awe. He heard whispers of "It's that Ghost Kid!" echo around the tables as he walked past. Finally they reached the private room and they sat around the table.

"Your server will be with you shortly," the host stated as he handed them all their menus and silverware before heading towards the door. He started walking out, and then popped his head back in. "Can I get an autograph?" he asked bravely. Danny's eyes flashed green and the host quickly left the room, obviously getting the message.

"Well, that was certainly interesting," his mother stated as she started looking at the menu.

"I'm sorry," Danny stated, looking at his family.

"Don't you even start apologizing for those obsessive fans again," Jack warned.

"But we can't even go out to dinner without making a scene anymore!"

"Oh cheer up sweetheart, it'll get better. It's just hard right now because everyone's still getting used to it, but it'll get better, you'll see," his mother comforted.

"I hope so," Danny stated.

The waitress came in and gave them all glasses of water. The host must have told her that she'd be serving the Fentons because she looked quite calm given the circumstances. She only faltered while giving Danny his water and he could tell that she was a little nervous serving him.

"Good evening, and welcome to PF Changs. I'm Michelle and I'll be your waitress for this evening. Can I start you out with something to drink?"

"A Diet Coke please," Maddie ordered as the waitress nodded and wrote it down in her book.

"Jack Daniels!" Jack requested proudly.

"Jack, not with Chinese!" Maddie reprimanded. "He'll have a Cherry Coke."

"Iced Tea," Jazz ordered before turning back to the menu.

Then the waitress looked at Danny and he noticed that her smile faltered, like she didn't really know how to act. Danny just smiled at her, trying to make her feel comfortable. "I'd like a Sprite with no ice," Danny requested and then smiled at her. She smiled back and then wrote down the order.

"Dr. Pepper," Sam ordered.

"Coke," Tucker requested.

"Alright, I'll have your drinks for you in a few minutes."

"Well, isn't this nice, the family and Danny's closest friends sitting together for a nice dinner at PF Changs?" Maddie asked.

"Yeah…" Jack stated as he stared off into the distance. "Wait a minute, when was the last time we went out to eat as a family?" Jack asked.

"Seven months, nineteen days," Danny stated automatically.

"Wow, someone's been keeping track," Jazz remarked. "May I ask why the good memory?"

"Because the last time we went out to eat was the day the portal started working, which was exactly seven months and nineteen days ago."

"Which was the day of the accident," Maddie stated.

"Yup."

"Now I remember," Jack stated. "We went out to Olive Garden to celebrate the portal and then Danny ran off to the bathroom and didn't return for ten minutes, and when he came back he looked all sick so we went home, and I left my box of food on the table," he finished sadly.

"Yes Danny, what did happen that made you rush off to the bathroom?"

"My arm had gone intangible so I ran off to the bathroom and it took me ten minutes to figure out how to fix it."

Everyone around the table started laughing as the waitress walked in with a large tray full of drinks.

"What? It wasn't funny! How would you feel if your arm was intangible and you couldn't figure out how to fix it!" Everyone just continued to laugh.

"Alright, here are your drinks," the waitress stated as she started handing them out.

"That's not as funny as the time when Danny lost his memory and forgot how to use his ghost powers. He tried to shoot an ecto-blast and it ended up coming out of his butt!" The entire table started cracking up as Danny blushed bright red. The waitress almost tipped one of the glasses over while placing them on the table.

"Yeah Tucker, well what about the time you died your hair blue because you were in love with Ember, only to find out that she was a ghost! And the only way she could be defeated was with your awful singing!" The entire table started laughing at that as well as the waitress stood up and pulled out her booklet, trying hard not to laugh.

"Guys, I think it's time to order," Jazz stated, trying to calm herself down.

"Can I start you with some appetizers?"

"Lettuce Wraps!" Danny, Sam, and Tucker yelled.

"Can we get two orders of the lettuce wraps?" Maddie ordered.

"Two? Make it three! That's Danny's favorite part!" Jack bellowed.

"Alright, three," Maddie agreed.

Danny, Sam, and Tucker smiled each other and gave each other high fives under the table. The waitress smiled as she watched them, realizing that though he may be a ghost, he was also just a normal boy who liked to hang out with his friends and family.

"Alright, three Lettuce Wraps. Are you all set to order or do you need a few more minutes?"

"I think we're ready," Maddie stated. "I'd like…"

"I'll have the Kung-Pao Chicken!" Jack interrupted in his usual loud voice.

"…the Lemon Pepper Chicken," Maddie finished slowly as Jack opened the end of the straw wrapper and placed it up to his mouth, ready to shoot the wrapper at another family member.

"I'll have the Chicken Fried Rice please," Jazz ordered as her father snuck behind her, took aim, and shot the straw towards Danny. Fortunately Danny had noticed his father making his straw wrapper weapon and knew it was coming. He went intangible so the straw wrapper went right through the side of his head and hit the side of Sam's instead. She looked up from her menu and saw Danny turning visible again and Jack trying to hide the straw while looking disappointed.

"Oh, that's no fun. You can't phase through the straw wrapper, that's cheating!"

"Yeah, which led to me getting hit instead!" Sam stated.

"What was I supposed to do, get hit with it myself? I don't think so! Plus, I don't remember making a rule that ghost powers are illegal in Straw Wars, so technically I wasn't cheating." Then he remembered that it was his turn to order. "Oh, sorry. Um, I'd like the Pork Chow Mein please."

"I'd like the Chow Mein, but with no meat in it. And does white rice come complementary or do you have to order that?" Sam asked.

"It's complementary," the waitress stated.

"You know Dad, if your aim with the Fenton Bazooka was as good as your aim with straws you would have hit me a long time ago," Danny stated as the waitress turned towards Tucker to get his order.

"I'll have the Beef and Broccoli, and make sure it has lots of beef," Tucker ordered.

"That's it! I'll make a ghost weapon that shoots ectoplasmic energy out of a straw!"

"Can we have more straws?" Danny asked the waitress.

"Sure," she replied as she handed Danny a pile of straws while his father was occupied with describing the new ghost invention to Maddie. "I used to play these kinds of games with my father all the time when we went out to eat."

Danny smiled back. "When playing with my family, it's not just a game; it's war."

The waitress left the room as Danny started taking off the tops of the straw wrappers while his father was distracted. Then he gathered them all up and went invisible before going ghost, that way no one would see him. Then he flew up into the air and waited until someone noticed he was gone: then he would strike.

"Hey, where's Danny?" Tucker asked. He was answered by a straw wrapper hitting him right on the forehead. "Ow!"

Then Sam was hit, and then Jazz, then Jack and Maddie. Danny used up the entire handful of straws on them.

"Danny!" they all yelled when his arsenal had depleted. Danny appeared before them laughing his head off. "Oh, that was great!" he laughed joyously.

"Alright, motion to forbid ghost powers in Straw Wars!" Jack stated.

"Aye!" everyone but Danny shouted.

"Oh come on! All's fair in love and war," Danny pleaded. "Plus, isn't one of the rules 'Use every piece of cunning and every talent you possess to strike down the enemy'?"

"Crap, our own laws used against us," Maddie stated, defeated.

"But we will get you, you understand that? You are not safe from us! Know that now you have declared war on all of us, and that means that we shall gang up on you. You are no longer safe!" Jack declared dramatically.

"Fine with me. Let the games begin," Danny stated, accepting the challenge and then going intangible as his father shot another straw wrapper trough his chest. "You know, you really should make that ghost weapon. That's two for two so far."

Then the waitress came in with the Lettuce Wraps and stopped as she saw Danny floating in front of his family. He turned around and smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry," he stated as he flew back to his seat and turned back to human.

"Did you get 'em?" she asked, noticing the look of triumph on the ghost boy's face and the looks of annoyance on everyone else.

"Oh yeah," Danny stated proudly.

"Wait, the waitress was in on it too?" Jack asked. "Isn't that against the rules?"

"Nope. The rules state that it's only illegal to ask a 'waiter' for help, not a waitress."

"Darn it Maddie he's getting too smart," Jack complained.

"Alright, well here are the Lettuce Wraps, the pot of white rice, and the Lettuce Wrap sauce. Does anyone need any refills?" A few people gestured that they did. "Alright, I'll be right back with those," she promised as she left.

"Oh yes, Lettuce Wraps!" Danny stated happily as he started making his wrap joyfully. Suddenly, he was hit in the head with a straw wrapper. "Hey, that's cheating! Straw Wars end once the first piece of food is brought out!"

"I know, but I just wanted to hit you," Jack stated.

Danny just smiled and continued to savor his Lettuce Wrap.

"How are the wraps?" the waitress asked as she came in with the refills.

Danny was just about to answer that they tasted like the most heavenly food on the planet when his ghost sense went off.

"You've got to be kidding me! Can't they leave me alone for one night, just one night? And I was in the middle of eating my Lettuce Wrap too!"

"A ghost!" someone screamed in the front room.

"Alright, that ghost is so going down," Danny stated determinately as the white rings formed around his waste as he transformed into his ghost version. He floated up, turned intangible, and flew through the wall into the main area. Jack and Maddie scrambled out of the booth and headed towards the door along with the waitress leaving Tucker, Sam, and Jazz at the booth.

"Sweet, now all the Lettuce Wraps are mine!" Tucker yelled.

"Oh, and touch my Lettuce Wraps, and I will overshadow you and make you wish you'd never been born," Danny warned as he stuck his head through the wall.

"Oh well, I can still eat Mr. and Mrs. Fenton's Lettuce Wraps!"

"Tucker, do I need to remind you who's paying for this meal and who's driving you home?" Maddie asked.

"No Mrs. Fenton. Darn it, no extra Lettuce Wraps. Unless…" he stated, looking at Sam and Jazz.

"Don't even think about it," they both warned.

* * *

Danny flew into the front room and saw a ghost that looked like an ancient Chinese dragon.

"Of course, a Chinese dragon ghost in a Chinese restaurant. How appropriate."

"It's the Ghost Boy!" the people in the restaurant yelled.

"Alright, for the record, that was totally unnecessary because you knew I was in here anyways. Alright, Mr. Chinese Dragon Ghost, you disrupted my family dinner, you attack my favorite restaurant, and more importantly, you interrupted me while I was eating my Lettuce Wraps. Do I need to say that you are so gone?"

The dragon roared and opened its mouth to breath fire at Danny. He flew out of the way and started shooting ecto-blasts at the dragon. He flew towards it and punched it, sending it through the wall and outside of the restaurant. He gasped as he felt his hand hurt, like it had been burned.

"Alright, mental note, don't touch the dragon," he stated as he shook his hand to try and release the pain and flew outside to tackle the dragon ghost. He started angrily shooting ecto-blast after ecto-blast at it, hoping to power it down enough so he could suck it into the thermos. After shooting a blast at the dragon, it swiped its tail around and hit Danny on the side, burning him from the heat it emitted and cutting him from its sharp barbs. He fell to the floor as his right side smoked from the contact and green ectoplasm started pouring out of several cuts on the side of his torso. The dragon then started to fly back towards the restaurant when Danny shot out his ghost stinger and wrapped it around the dragon's tail. It shocked the ghost as Danny twirled it away from the restaurant. Then he opened his mouth and let out his ghostly wail which sent the ghost flying into the nearest building. Then Danny flew over to it and opened the thermos.

"And that's what you get for disrupting me while I'm eating my Lettuce Wraps!" he warned as he sucked the dragon into the thermos. Then he fell to his hands and knees and changed back to human. He looked at his hand and it looked burnt and it was sore to the touch. Danny slowly stood up and started walking back into the restaurant where he was greeted with applause from the people eating there. He smiled and he walked back to the room, clutching his side.

"Oh sweetie, are you alright?" Maddie asked as Danny walked towards them.

"Yeah Mom, I'm fine. Just a little burned. Now let me at those Lettuce Wraps!" he yelled as he dove into the booth and devoured his half eaten Lettuce Wrap before starting to make a new one.

"Oh it's wonderful sweetie, you saved the restaurant!" his mother gushed as she gave him a kiss on the forehead.

"No I didn't, I saved the Lettuce Wraps."

* * *

A/N: And no, my family isn't really that extreme, although my dad would be if my mom wouldn't kill him. And Danny's Lettuce Wrap obsession, let's just say I really like Lettuce Wraps...

Alright, so here's hoping that this wasn't really bad and can stand up to the previous chapter. If anything it should have been mildly entertaining, right? Although, for those of you who are wondering, this chapter does have an emocional effect on the chapter to come, so it was important.


	6. Adjustment

A/N: Alright, I want to apologize for taking so long to post. A piece of advice for anyone either in college or going to be in college: don't take physics, chemistry, and philosophy in the same year. You end up having two tests and a six page essay on "Why is yellow good?" due all at the same time.

So, enough complaining about crappy schoolwork. Here's the next chapter, and it's nice and long as a reward for your patience. I just need to get through this week and then I should be back on schedule.

Oh, and thanks so much for all the reviews! I'm so glad everyone liked the last chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! Hoping this one isn't too bad, since it's probably really hard to follow the two previous chapters!

* * *

Chapter Six  
Adjustment

As Danny sat in the Fenton RV on the way home, he thought about the past two hours. He couldn't remember ever having more fun during dinner than that night. It had been, by far, the best night of his life. All thoughts of having to deal with the press and people of Amity lay forgotten as he just enjoyed being with his family and friends. Sure his parents could be a little crazy at times, well more than a little crazy, but they were still fun to hang around with, especially in a restaurant. And the best part was that the manager himself came into the room at the end of the night and insisted that Danny could eat for free anytime he wanted, which of course made Danny extremely happy and he planned on taking advantage of that as much as possible. All the Lettuce Wraps he could eat. He could stop by after school, after a ghost attack, whenever he just felt like a Lettuce Wrap, the possibilities were endless.

"Danny? Danny?" his mother started asking, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Hmm?" Danny responded.

"What is that red stain on your shirt?" she asked in a concerned voice.

Danny looked down and saw that the cuts had started to bleed through his shirt. He had totally forgotten about his injury. "Umm…" he started to answer.

"That dragon ghost cut you, didn't he? When he hit you with his tail he cut you."

"Well…"

"Oh, why didn't you tell us at the restaurant when we asked if you were alright? We could have taken you back to the RV and stitched it up, or at least put a bandage on it!"

"Because I was eating my Lettuce Wrap."

His mother sighed; he loved those things too much. "Daniel Fenton, a Lettuce Wrap is no excuse for sacrificing your health!"

"I think it's a perfectly good excuse." Tucker and Sam tried to stifle a laugh as Maddie gave him an exasperated look. "Mom, just relax, I'm alright. You may be new to this, but I'm not. I get cuts, scrapes, and burns all the time. I'm a pretty fast healer, so don't worry. I know how to take care of myself."

"I know you do sweetie," Maddie stated. "It's just hard to get used to. I'm your mother after all, and I don't like seeing you hurt."

"Don't worry, it's not that bad. Lettuce Wraps are like a natural morphine, I don't feel a thing!"

In truth Danny could now feel the stings of the cuts, but he knew that it was because he was thinking about it and didn't have exquisite Chinese food to distract him.

They dropped Sam and Tucker off at their respective houses and finally returned to their house, glad to see that the reporters were gone. Once inside his father retreated to the basement to work on his new straw ghost hunting invention, Jazz retreated upstairs to do some homework, and Maddie directed Danny towards the couch as she grabbed the first aid kit.

"Mom, I told you, I'm fine!" Danny complained. He now found the real reason why he never told his parents about his ghost fighting alter-ego.

"I know, I know, but I won't stop worrying until I fix this for you. Now take off your shirt."

Danny did as he was told as his mother opened the kit and placed ointment, bandages, and pins on the table within easy reach.

"Alright, now let's take a look," she stated as she turned towards Danny. "There's more than one cut! Daniel Fenton! And they're deep too! No wonder they won't stop bleeding. Oh, curse those stupid Lettuce Wraps!"

"Hey, don't insult the Lettuce Wraps," Danny warned. "They just look worse than they are, honestly. I don't feel a…ouch!" Danny yelled as his mother took a sterile wipe and started wiping off the mixture of red and green blood.

"Seriously Danny, some of these could use stitches, and you definitely need some burn cream for those burns."

"Alright, maybe I need a bandage, but I draw the line at burn cream and stitches! Stitches would be totally unnecessary, and I deal with burns every day; it's just like an ecto-blast or an ecto-gun…" Danny trailed off, not meaning to mention the ecto-gun. He didn't want to remind his parents of all the times they had actually injured him. He could tell his mother was looking uncomfortable as she continued to clean up the still bleeding wounds. Danny really wished they'd stop bleeding soon. His mother had always cleaned up his wounds when he was a little boy so he was sort of used to it, but it just felt weird when his mother was cleaning up a wound that was leaking both red blood and green ectoplasm.

"Stand up Danny. It's too hard to wrap this up while you're sitting." Danny stood up and raised his arms so she could more easily wrap the wound. He figured that at this point it was just easier to humor her for she still looked slightly depressed at his earlier comment. She placed some gauze over the cuts and started wrapping a bandage lovingly around his torso. She pinned it in place and stood back to admire her work.

"There, that should keep you from bleeding all over the place. And if you happen to wake up in the middle of the night and see red, or green in your case, feel free to wake me up and I'll change the bandage. Or maybe I should set an alarm and check on them to make sure…"

"No, you don't need to do that. Trust me, I'll be fine. I've been doing this for over seven months Mom; I know what I'm doing." He felt sick of reassuring her that everything would be okay.

"I know, I know," she replied as she looked fondly at him. "You know, you're getting quite built," she remarked with a smile, seeing his well toned arms and torso. Danny blushed and reached for his shirt.

"Well, I guess that's what happens when you fight ghosts everyday," he added sheepishly as he pulled his shirt on and started buttoning it.

His mother just smiled in return. "Well, you've had a busy day and you're probably exhausted. You really should be going to bed."

Danny welcomed the order and walked eagerly towards the stairs when he noticed his mother sitting down on the couch staring at the wall. Danny thought about his earlier comment and knew he had to tell her something, something to ease the pain she felt. He walked back to the couch and sat down next to her, noticing the trail of a tear on her face.

"Listen, Mom, I know you feel bad about hunting me, but I promise that it's okay. I knew right after figuring out that I was half ghost that I'd have to be careful and that you'd probably unintentionally hunt me. You're ghost hunters, and I'm a ghost, it's only natural." His mother looked like she was about to interrupt but Danny refused to let her. "Just let me finish Mom. I always knew that you'd be after my ghost form, and I was all right with that. Even if you knew whether or not I attacked the mayor, I was still a ghost and you still had to destroy me. I mean, you'd do the same thing to any other ghost? Why not me? And I know you feel bad that I didn't…trust you enough to tell you, but honestly I didn't know how you'd react. I know that was a mistake on my part and I'm sorry. I was always really torn on the subject and I wanted to tell you so many times, but I was always just too scared. I just didn't know what I would do without your love, and the thought of being without it scared me, too much to even chance telling you. For me, it was easier to keep it a secret than to risk my family and the love you give me. So please don't be sad and please don't feel guilty. Were I in your place, I would do the same thing. When I'm fighting ghosts, I don't give them a second chance unless they can immediately prove that they're good, and even some of the ghost friends that I've met I attacked at first, so even I do it too. It's just natural instinct for us ghost hunters to go after ghosts."

Maddie turned towards him, tears in her eyes, knowing he was right. She gave him a hug, whispering "Thank you," into his shoulder over and over again as they both felt immersed in familial love.

* * *

Warm, bright sunlight filtered into the living room through the blinds, dancing around the furniture and the sleeping figures of Danny and his mom, cuddled together on the couch. They'd fallen asleep on each other and stayed there all night, having been extremely exhausted from the day's events. Maddie started to stir and opened her eyes, surprised to see that she wasn't in her room. Then she remembered the following night and looked down at Danny, still asleep, his head still resting on her shoulder. She smiled as she realized that they had fallen asleep on each other. Wishing for Danny to get more sleep, she gently maneuvered her way out and laid him softly down on the couch, placing his head on a pillow. He stirred a little but otherwise remained fast asleep. She smiled as she found some covers in the closet and placed them over him. She bent over and kissed his forehead and started to walk into the kitchen to make some coffee when she noticed the door to the lab. More memories of the night before entered into her mind as she realized that Jack was working in the lab when she and Danny were in the living room. Why didn't he wake her up when he went upstairs and realized that she wasn't in bed? Did he really not notice her presence that much? She was about to head up the stairs when she thought she heard snoring coming from the lab. She headed downstairs and found Jack sleeping on the table, the beginnings of the straw invention scattered about the table. Maddie smiled and headed back up the stairs. 

She put on some coffee and headed towards the door to get the morning paper. She opened the door and caught it as it started to fall. Maddie then remembered that the reporters had knocked it down and they would probably need to get someone to fix it. Speaking of reporters, she felt pleased that no reporters or rabid fans were waiting outside. The press conference obviously did its job. Unfortunately, the remains of the reporters' steak out did linger. Papers, food wrappers, soda cans, water bottles, and other assorted trash littered the front yard. She sighed, realizing that someone would have to clean it up later today. The less she had to remember that reporters stormed her house the better, especially for Danny.

She walked down to the street and picked up the paper while getting the mail from her mailbox. She noticed that there were a lot of letters, and as she flipped through them noticed that they were all addressed to Danny. Of course they'd be receiving a lot of junk mail from the people of Amity expressing their thanks, or asking for his hand in marriage. Maddie smiled as she remembered the signs the girls were holding up when they walked into the press conference.

"Maddie! Maddie Fenton!" She turned around and noticed their neighbor from across the street waving at her.

"Mrs. Gregory, good morning," Maddie greeted in surprises as Mrs. Gregory walked across the street towards Maddie.

"Good morning to you too!" she greeted when she reached the other side of the street. "And how are you this fine morning?"

"A little tired, but otherwise feeling fine."

"Ah yes, well that's to be expected. You had a busy day yesterday."

"Yes, yes we did. How about you?"

"Oh, never been better! Steven just got promoted and Kyle's preparing for the SATs. We know he's going to do so well, though not as well as Jazz did I'm sure. What did she get, a 1570?"

"1596," Maddie corrected.

"I always knew that girl would make it big, and Danny too. I always knew they'd make something of themselves, and now just look at them, especially Danny, saving the town like a regular hero."

"Hmm, that's interesting, because I seem to remember you saying that Jazz was too smart for her own good and would never get married because people would dislike her know-it-all-attitude so much and that Danny would end up a bum on the street because of his lack of effort and discipline."

"Really, I don't seem to…"

"Oh don't play dumb with me Margaret. You told my children that after you threw them out of your house six years ago because you didn't want them to be a 'bad influence' to Kyle," Maddie spat.

"Well, I didn't really mean it. It was just a bad day and…"

"Well, it must have been a really long bad day, because you never did let them back over there to play with Kyle."

"It was a mistake, I see that now, but I was thinking, maybe we could start afresh? I know Kyle gets lonely, since he doesn't have any siblings, and what with Danny being a freshman, Kyle could show him the tricks-of-the-trade when it comes to school. I mean, he is a junior this year."

"He has his sister to show him the tricks of the trade," Maddie stated bitterly. With every sentence that left Mrs. Gregory's mouth Maddie's desire to punch that perfect smile out of her mouth increased. After all this time, now Mrs. Gregory wanted Jazz, Danny, and Kyle to be friends, after she and Jack had tried for so long six years ago only to be met by astounding opposition from Mr. and Mrs. Gregory. "This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with Danny being the ghost boy, now would it?" Maddie asked casually.

"Oh, of course not. I mean, of course I'd heard about it, who hasn't, but it just reminded me that Danny and Kyle used to be friends and that they hadn't seen each other in so long that it might be nice to get them back together again. I know that Kyle misses Danny greatly and I'm sure Danny feels the same way."

"Honestly, Danny and Jazz never give Kyle a second thought. They have their own friends now, and they don't need some stuck up opportunist to give them a good time."

"Don't you insult my son Maddie!" Mrs. Gregory warned.

"I'm just getting back at you for all the years that you insulted mine!"

"Alright, I can see that this was a bad idea. Kyle figured you wouldn't agree, but he just gets so lonely that I thought I would try."

"If Kyle was really that lonely he could have just as easily walked over here and talked to Danny or myself in person."

"You're right, I'm sorry. It's just that I already wanted to talk to you so I figured I'd just bring it up at the same time."

"Mhmm," Maddie stated, not really believing her. "Well Margaret, what did you wish to speak to me about?" The sooner they ended this conversation the better. Maddie didn't really want to be charged with homicide. It would be extremely difficult to hunt ghosts while in jail.

"Well, the girls and I were wondering if you'd like to join us for cards tomorrow. I know you were interested before and we just wondered if you'd like to join us."

"Oh, that would be wonderful!" Maddie stated sarcastically. "And how about we have it at my house so I can introduce you to the family?"

"Oh that would be lovely!" Margaret stated excitedly, not noticing the sarcasm.

"That's what I thought," Maddie stated as she slapped her across the face.

"What…?" she started to ask.

"How dare you? You don't care about me, or my family, or even my son. All you want is a chance to meet the great Danny Phantom and earn your few seconds of fame. You and the rest of the ladies don't really want to play cards with me, just like you didn't want to six years ago. You think my family and I are the same ghost-hunting freaks that you always did. You just want to get in good terms with us so you can talk to me about Danny. And Kyle doesn't really want to be friends with him either, he just wants to relish in the newfound popularity that'll come from being Danny's friend. I can see right through you and your plans. So, stay away from my family, especially Danny, otherwise you'll be sorry you ever messed with the Fentons."

"Danny!" Mrs. Gregory yelled and Maddie turned around. Danny had just opened the door, probably to look and see if all the reporters had really gone.

"Mrs. Gregory," Danny stated, surprised to see her actually talking to him. The last time he saw her she was threatening their family with a restraining order if they came near them again. And now, here she was, in their front lawn. "Um, hi."

"Why don't you come down here? It's been ages!"

Danny looked hesitant but then walked down to the street and shook Mrs. Gregory's outstretched hand with trepidation.

"How have you been doing?" she asked politely while Maddie scowled.

"Surprisingly good. We went to PF Changs last night and I got Lettuce Wraps. Nothing brightens your outlook on life like Lettuce Wraps."

"Yes, I heard about that. It was in the paper this morning."

"Oh, right, of course." Danny knew this was going to happen but he tried to postpone it as long as possible. Of all the times he could open the door, he had to open it when the annoying neighbor that he hated with a passion was outside.

"Is that blood on your shirt? Did you get injured?"

"What, oh. Yeah. It's nothing new though, happens all the time. So, how've you been?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Oh, I've been doing great, and so has Kyle. He was talking about you this morning."

"Imagine that," Danny stated sarcastically.

"We were talking about how it went wrong between the two of you and why you didn't keep in touch."

"Hm, well, I think it could be the fact that you threw me and my sister out of your house saying that we wouldn't amount to anything and then threatened us with lawsuits. I think that might have done it."

"That's what your mother said, but I could swear…" Mrs. Gregory started fabricating, trying to look innocent as she realized that he would take the same stance as his mother.

"Mrs. Gregory, you can't fool me. I've had to deal with fake people trying to be my friend or date me since I became Danny Phantom. You always hated us and probably still did until I was exposed, so sorry if I don't believe you and accept your friendly manner now. I've had six years to get over it and become better friends with Tucker and Sam, so just give up." He turned around and started walking towards the door, his mother following him.

"Wait, Danny! Could I at least have a little demonstration, for old times' sake?"

Danny stopped in his tracks, trying to avoid killing her. The urge was very strong. Then he smiled mischievously as his eyes flashed green and his mother looked down at him, curious.

"Alright, I guess. For old times' sake," he stated as he turned around. He cupped his hands together and Mrs. Gregory gasped as she saw them glow green. Then he shot the blast, straight through the large stained glass window in the Gregory's front room that they were so proud of. Mrs. Gregory looked in shock, her gaze switching from Danny to the shattered remains of the window. "I hope you enjoyed the demonstration," he added cheerily as he turned around and started walking towards the door. Just as he was about to go inside he turned around to face a still shocked Mrs. Gregory. "Leave me alone or next it'll be the entire house, and I do have enough power to do that," he warned as his eyes flashed green. Then, satisfied, he walked inside and shut the door.

* * *

"Well, that was interesting," Maddie commented as they walked into the kitchen. 

"Tell me about it," Danny replied as he grabbed the orange juice from the fridge and poured it into a glass.

"Although, for the record, blowing up their window was the best use of your powers I've seen yet."

They both laughed as they sat down at the table, juice and coffee in hand. Maddie unfolded the paper and saw a large picture of Danny halfway between his transformation into the ghost boy at the press conference. She saw Danny lean closer and then fall back in his chair, a look of disdain on his face.

"Really sweetie, did you expect something else?" she asked as she noticed his attitude.

"No, but that doesn't mean I have to like it," he stated honestly.

"Morning Mom, morning Danny," Jazz stated as she walked brightly into the room like she did every morning. Then she stopped abruptly and looked at Danny quizzically. "Alright, did I sleep in really late? How is it that Danny's awake before I am?"

Danny and Maddie just laughed. "I fell asleep in the living room and the sun woke me up."

"Oh. Good, for a second there I thought I was going nuts," she stated as she grabbed her cup of coffee and sat down next to her mother. "So, what are they saying about it?" she asked as she noticed what her mother was reading.

"They really won't take an opinion. They just say that he claims that he's a good ghost but whether he really is or not remains to be seen."

"Figures," Danny stated bitterly. "Why can't they just see that the facts are glaring them in the face? I'm not bad!"

"Of course you're not sweetie, but you don't think the press will admit that they were wrong just because you say so. Believe me, they're going to milk it for all it's worth. What's really important is what Amity thinks, and not what the press reports."

"And even if they still think you're bad, it's not any different then before, right?" Jazz asked.

"No, except for the fact that they'll be after Danny Fenton as well as Danny Phantom."

"Yeah, never thought about that," Jazz stated.

"Morning Fentons!" Jack bellowed as he came up the stairs.

"Morning Dad," Jazz and Danny stated as he sat down at the table looking around for breakfast.

"I haven't made any breakfast dear. You'll just have to settle with cereal."

"Aww," Jack moaned.

"I'm sorry dear, but we had some neighbor troubles this morning. It seems that Mrs. Gregory now wishes to be friends with us, as compared to her rather hostile feelings six years ago."

"Of course," Jazz stated. "Does she now think that we'll make something of ourselves?" she asked bitterly.

"Oh of course. She's very complementary now. She doesn't even remember insulting us or threatening us with a restraining order."

"Why that rotten, no good…" Jack started to mumble.

"Don't worry dear, Danny and I took care of it," Maddie comforted.

"Yeah, she won't be coming over here any time soon. I blasted her 'precious' stained-glass window with an ecto-blast," Danny smirked.

"Good boy. No chores for you this week."

"Woohoo!" Danny shouted in glee.

"Actually, I was thinking of exempting Danny of all chores permanently," Maddie stated.

"What?" the three of them asked in unison.

"Are you serious?" Danny asked, hoping his mother wasn't joking.

"You can't do that!" Jack and Jazz both yelled.

"Why not? Danny certainly deserves a break. I mean he barely has any time to himself with school and ghost fighting. Why not give him a break?"

"Because then we have to do them," Jack sulked.

"Dad, Mom's right. Danny does deserve a break. Plus, I've already been doing most of his chores for him."

"So, I'm exempt from chores?" Danny asked hopefully as he leaned in towards the table. Maddie and Jack nodded their heads. "Sweet!" Danny yelled as he felt overjoyed. He should have told his parents long ago. Now he had one less thing to worry about. Maybe now he could actually finish his homework with the extra time, or at least start it. Then again, maybe his teachers would be more lenient and not expect him to finish his homework the next day. He would actually be able to tell them why he was late for class, or why he didn't have time to finish his homework. Maybe his identity being revealed wasn't such a bad thing.

"Hey, what are these?" Jack asked as he noticed the letters on the table and picked them up to examine them. "Hey, they're addressed to Danny! They're probably fan mail!"

Then again, maybe it was.

"Here Danny, let's see who they're from!" Jack shouted excitedly as he thrust the pile onto Danny's plate of toast.

Danny started looking at the letters, trying to see if he could recognize one. Of course he saw one from Paulina; he knew that would happen, but the rest of the names he was unfamiliar with. He split them into groups and handed them to each member of the family.

"Read 'em and tell me what they say," Danny stated as he tore the envelope of Paulina's. The card was bright pink with a doctored photo of her surrounded by both sides of his persona and across the top it read "Danny and Paulina." He opened the card and almost blinded himself from the overbearing pinkness emanating from the card. Inside Paulina included a poem about her and Danny and expressed her sorrow at treating his Fenton side so poorly, but stated that deep down she really did care for him.

"Danny, what is it?" Maddie asked. His parents could obviously see the look of disgust on his face. He held the card by the corner and placed it in front of his mother, who in turn read it and looked up in shock. "Isn't this that girl that you always had a crush on?"

"You mean other than Sam?" Jack asked.

"Sam's not my girlfriend!" Danny yelled automatically in defense. "And yes, that's Paulina."

"Well, she sure knows how to catch your attention."

"More like catch my utter revulsion. Throw it up into the air," he requested as his mother looked at him curiously and then did as he requested. He lifted up his arm and shot an ecto-blast at the card, sending little bits of burning paper to the floor. "Well, that made me feel good. Got any more?"

"This is one from the people who own the Nasty Burger. They want to give you free meals for the rest of your life, or death, or whatever. You get the picture," Jack stated in excitement. "Ooh, you should all take us there! We could get free Nasty Burgers!"

"Well this one is from someone who lives in Amity thanking you for continually saving their lives. Oh how sweet! See honey, they think you're a good ghost!" Maddie stated as she picked up another letter.

"Well, sorry to burst your bubble little bro, but this one says that if you go near her children, Danny Fenton or not, she'll call the cops. Well, you can't win 'em all," Jazz remarked sadly as she threw the letter up into the air so Danny could blast it.

"Hey, here's a good one!" Jack stated happily. "This one states that if you harm her cats in any way she'll call the Fentons on you!"

"Um, how is that a good one?" Danny asked as he and the two female members of the family looked at him curiously.

"Because the cat-lady wants to call _us_!" The rest of the family groaned.

"Why does this lady think that we would actually hunt our own son?" Maddie stated as she looked at the letter.

"Probably to fit the description of the stereotypical cat-lady," Jazz remarked. "Throw it in the air."

Soon the Fenton family had made it through the pile of fan letters for Danny, actually enjoying all the strange things people would write and blasting more letters than not. Most of the letters were love letters, which were promptly blasted, but not before Jazz and his dad teased him about it, until Jazz found one from her friend, in which she turned oddly silent. Of course the letters that told him to keep away from their family or stated that they still didn't believe him were also blasted, but to Danny's great surprise those were very few. The rest of them were touching letters thanking Danny for everything he did and sacrificed for the town. Some of them even included heart-wrenching tales of how he saved families without even realizing it, like when he would stop a car from crashing through a building or stop a ghost in the park near the swings where their children were playing.

Danny spent the rest of the day lounging around the house, trying to avoid the windows as much as possible. Even though the reports were generally gone, the occasional photographer or rabid fan would come up to the door or peer through the window, trying to catch a glimpse of Danny in his natural habitat. Eventually Tucker and Sam came over to visit and distracted Danny from his thoughts of reporters and fans with video games. This failed, however, to get the thought of school the next day out of his head.

"Come on Danny, I'm totally trashing you," Tucker stated as Danny lost yet another life.

"I'm sorry; I just…can't seem to focus." He didn't really have the concentration, his mind was somewhere else. It was on the fan mail he'd received, it was on the opportunistic neighbor across the street, it was on how unbearable school would be the next day, it was on the conversation with his mother last night, it was on Valerie's reaction at the press conference.

"How about we take a break?" Sam asked, sensing that Danny wasn't into it.

"No, I like playing it. It keeps my mind busy," Danny stated.

"Danny, I think your mind is already busy enough. You're not even really playing. Most of the time you're just staring dazedly at the screen."

Danny couldn't refute her observations but refused to put the controller down. He just needed to focus more on the game.

"Danny, are you alright?" Sam asked.

"It's just…I'm really worried about school. What's going to happen? I know I'm going to be treated differently, but how? I don't know what to expect, and I'm scared."

"Danny, listen to me. Everything's going to be all right," Sam comforted.

"Yeah, and besides, we already somewhat know what to expect, given the constants of high school," Tucker stated as Danny and Sam looked at him quizzically.

"What are you talking about?" Danny asked.

"There are a few things that you can be absolutely sure of tomorrow," Tucker clarified.

"Like what?"

"Point one: Dash will try to shove you in a locker and will probably insult you, like he does everyday."

"Point two: Paulina will be fawning over you all day and follow you everywhere," Sam stated, catching on.

"Point three: you'll probably end up in detention and most likely from Lancer because you do everyday."

"Point four: kids will stare in awe or run away in fear. So, it should make getting to class a lot easier."

"Point five: a ghost will attack and you'll have to fight it. Except this time, you don't have to worry about lying about it."

"Point six, and the most important point of all: we'll be there for you the entire day. We'll be your backbone, your support, someone to hide you when it all becomes too much. We'll be next to you always, and nothing, no matter what, will change that."

Danny smiled at them, glad that his friends could be so supportive. Danny placed an arm around each of them, enveloping the three of them in a group hug. As he felt them beside him, he thought about just how much they meant to him. He would never have survived a day with his ghost powers without them, or rather any day in general. They were the only friends he had, but he couldn't have wished it any other way. His two best friends were better than any other amount of friends he could ever have. They were always there for him, no matter what, and they always will be.

"Is Jazz going to drive you tomorrow?" Sam asked as they pulled out of their embrace.

"Yeah. Neither of us thought it a good idea to take the bus."

"Good thinking," Tucker stated.

"Do you want us to meet you here tomorrow morning and walk in with you?" Sam questioned.

"Yeah, I would really appreciate that," Danny replied as he smiled at them. He knew that school would be just as hard for them as it was going to be for him, but they were ready to face it, unafraid and unfazed.

"I just have one question," Danny stated as Tucker and Sam looked at him, puzzled. "What about Valerie? She wasn't mentioned in your list of guarantees."

"Well, that's because she isn't a guarantee. We don't know what she'll do," Tucker stated.

"She hasn't left her house since the press conference. We wanted to go talk to her afterwards, but we couldn't find her and we tried going to her house, but her dad said she didn't want to talk to anyone. We tried to look at her expression during the conference as much as we could without seeming suspicious, but her face just looked expressionless," Sam described.

"Yeah, that's what I saw. I don't know what to think. I mean, she still can't want to kill me, can she? I mean, now she knows that I'm still human, and she's not the kind of person that would kill a human, right?"

"Unless she doesn't believe that and still just sees you as a ghost that's been lying to her," Tucker stated.

"But I'm still just Danny Fenton!" Danny yelled in exasperation.

"But you're not. You're more than 'just Danny Fenton' and you know it, and now, so does she."

"But it shouldn't matter, should it?" Danny asked.

"Of course it shouldn't, but do you really think that Valerie will see it that way. Do you really think she's going to give it up just because she found out that Phantom and Fenton are really the same? You thought your own parents would still hunt you once you found out, why would Valerie be any less forgiving than your own parents?" Sam asked.

Danny couldn't think of a response to Sam's comment. He knew she was right, he just didn't want to believe her. He always thought that Valerie was a nice girl and he had long since wanted to be friends with her, but he couldn't deny the fact that if he thought his parents wouldn't accept him, then there was definitely a large possibility that she wouldn't accept him either. But still, he wanted to give her the chance. He knew that she wanted to be friends with him, and sometimes he thought she wanted a little more, but he also knew that she wanted to destroy Phantom, and would really try. His parents would just try to capture him for experiments or send him back to the Ghost Zone, but Valerie wanted to maim him, to hurt him for all the damage she thought he caused. Did he really expect her to give up all that hatred just because she wanted to be friends with Fenton? But still, maybe those feelings for him would stop her from hunting him. Maybe their friendship would be lost, but maybe, just maybe, she would stop hunting him. There was only one way to find out for sure.

"I'm going to visit her. Tonight."

"But Danny, what if something goes wrong?" Sam asked worriedly. "What if she does really want to kill you still? I mean, she may feel betrayed."

"I have to know Sam. I won't lose a friendship just because I'm too scared to go over to her house and talk to her. Besides, she's needed to listen to my side of the story for a long time. Maybe now she'll actually give me a chance."

* * *

A/N: So yeah, a lot of filler in this chapter, but the next chapter will be the confrontation with Valerie, which I know everyone's been really anxious to see! 


	7. I Never Saw Us As Enemies

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! I'm glad so many people liked the previous chapter and didn't consider it just filler. I didn't, otherwise I wouldn't bother writing it because there's way too much important stuff I could be writing, but who knows, people just have different views on stuff. It's just that one of my favorite things to do with Danny Phantom stories is contrast the normal with the abnormal, like the Fenton dinner at PF Changs or Jazz joking to Danny about sleeping in late and then starting to talk about the Ghost Boy. It's those little things that I enjoy writing, so I like to include them. I don't know, maybe I'm just paranoid. Call me crazy, but I still get nervous posting a chapter, just incase people don't like it.

And here's a perfect example of my nerves, because this is the Danny/Valerie confrontation, which I know has been much anticipated since the beginning. I must have rewritten so many passages in this story it's not even funny. Don't be surprised to find out later that I rewrote it, yet again, but I just didn't think it was fair to continue to keep people waiting just because I can't make up my mind.

* * *

Chapter Seven  
I Never Saw Us as Enemies

Danny walked down the streets of Amity, the glow of the orange streetlamps and the lights from the insides of houses lighting his way. He walked the familiar paths, lost in his own thoughts of what to say, what to do, trying to predict her reaction to seeing him at the door. The night was quiet, and Danny appreciated it, glad that there was no one out on the streets. Right now, he didn't feel like catering to fans.

He stopped dead in front of the apartment complex where she lived. He stared up at the building, knowing that behind one of the bright windows lay the one girl he wished he never had to talk to about such things, but she was also the one girl who he knew he had to talk to. He walked through the door and into the lobby until he reached the elevator, not paying the awed receptionist any attention. It seemed like only a second passed before the elevator reached her floor, and Danny stepped out, ready to face the inevitable. He walked down the hall and stopped at her door.

Never in his life did he think a door could look so imposing, so forbidding. He couldn't help feeling that he shouldn't be there, that what he was doing was completely foolish. Danny shut his eyes and thought of why he was there. He thought of not having to worry about fighting with her anymore, thought about being completely honest with her, thought about setting everything straight and clearing his name, thought about starting fresh and trying to be the friends he'd always wanted them to be. Empowered with these thoughts, he raised his arm and knocked on the door.

He heard shuffling and muffled voices as Danny stood there for what seemed like forever until he heard the door open and saw the familiar dark-skinned face emerge through the door, her aqua eyes wide as she beheld Danny.

"Hello Valerie," he stated as he tried to smile. She looked shocked and slammed the door in his face. Danny didn't quite know how to react to her sudden burst, but before he could think of an alternative that didn't result in him walking through the door, he heard the door open again to reveal Valerie's tearstained face looking back at him. She looked like she hadn't had a peaceful sleep since she found out. Her hair was disheveled and her clothes looked like she hadn't changed them in days. He noticed with joy that there was no ecto-gun in sight, but the joy was short lived as she stood in the doorway, right in front of him. All his remaining strength disappeared and he felt like he would crumble to the floor in fear, but he calmed himself, continuously convincing himself that this had to be done.

"What do you want?" she asked. Her voice sounded somewhat hurt, and yet angry and vicious at the same time.

"Look Val, I just…"

"Don't call me Val. That term is reserved for my friends," she spat bitterly.

"But I am your friend!" he argued, hurt by her comment.

"You were my friend, before you betrayed and lied to me," she stated as she closed the door again on him.

"Valerie? Valerie, please open the door," Danny pleaded. He had to talk to her. He hadn't come all this way just to get a door slammed in his face. "Valerie, please don't make me go through the door."

She hastily opened the door, her eyes tearing and angry. "Oh, so just because you're part ghost you think you can just waltz into people's houses whenever you want?"

"Listen Valerie, we need to talk."

"Oh, now you wanna talk, as opposed to before when you were just content with lying to me? How do I know I can trust you?"

"Because I brought this," Danny stated as he reached into his backpack and pulled out a mechanical silver and green belt. "It's a Specter Deflector, and I think from the name it's pretty self-explanatory."

"And how is this going to help?"

"It'll help because I'm giving it to you. It'll prevent me from even getting close to you, if that's what you want. I literally can't touch you while you're wearing it. You'll be armed, and I won't be. I promise, I just want to talk."

Valerie looked somewhat skeptical as she grabbed the Deflector and placed it around her waist and activated it.

"Alright, will you listen?" he asked and she nodded slightly. "Look, I know that this is a shock, and I know that you're probably really hurt and confused, but I promise that I didn't do this to betray you or hurt you in any way. I didn't become your friend just so I could trick you. In fact, Sam and Tucker didn't think our friendship would be a good idea since you were in reality out to kill me," Valerie looked wide-eyed at this statement. "Yeah, I know you're the other ghost hunter who's been after me. I've known since the beginning." Valerie continued to look shocked at this new piece of information. "But even still I wanted to make it work between us. I wanted, and I still want, to be friends with you, which is why I'm here. I just wanted to set things straight, and where we go from there can be your call.

Valerie continued to look at him, still hurt but no longer looking angry. Danny figured this was some kind of permission to continue.

"The whole thing with the ghost dog and all the unfortunate accidents that always seemed to happen to you to make your bad situation even worse weren't my fault. I found the ghost dog and I thought it was harmless, since it has this whole Jekyll and Hyde thing going on, so I didn't do anything with it, but as soon as it started destroying things I started chasing after it. Well, it ran to the lab and as I tried to capture it, we kinda made a mess, thus costing your dad his job, which I felt, and still feel, really bad about.

"I know it's sorta my fault and I know that if I would have just captured the dog in the beginning none of it would have happened, but I never intended to destroy your life. For some reason the dog just kept wanting to follow you around. I finally figured out that he was a lab dog that your dad's company had killed and he just came back from the dead to find his squeaky toy. Kinda cute, huh?" Danny smiled, but it quickly faded as he saw Valerie's expression. "I guess not. The point is, it wasn't my fault. I've never been out to ruin your life or rather anyone's life for that matter. Now, I know that our rivalry has since then gone beyond that of the whole dog fiasco, but I promise you that I never meant to do or hurt anyone, especially you. You have to believe me."

Danny waited as Valerie processed the information. He didn't really know how to react, but he knew he had to wait and accept whatever she chose, no matter the outcome.

"So you've known this whole time?"

"Yeah."

"And you never told anyone, not even at the press conference?"

"No."

"Why? I mean, we're enemies, why wouldn't you?"

"Maybe because I never saw us as enemies. I never wanted to hurt you, or fight you for that matter. Most of the times I tried to capture the ghost and then fly away as fast as I could before you got there. I hate fighting you. And plus, I had my own secrets, and I wouldn't like them being blabbed out all over the community. Although, it still happened anyways so it really doesn't matter, but you get the idea. The point is, it wasn't my secret to tell, and I respect people's desires to have secrets," he added with a slight smile.

"So, all those times we were fighting, you were never trying to hurt me?"

"No. I mostly tried to take out the glider because then you'd spin out of control long enough for me to get away. Like I said, I never wanted to hurt you."

Valerie and Danny stood in silence, not really knowing what to say to each other. Danny still felt extremely nervous, still not knowing what to expect.

"So even after all the times I tried to kill you, you still wanted to be friends?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Because I still wanted to be friends with you. I thought non-ghost hunter Valerie was cool and nice and someone I'd like to hang around with. Ghost hunter Valerie, I could do without," he added with a smirk. "I hoped that I could separate my two different lives from each other, but clearly I wasn't doing a very good job of it. But, that's not really what matters. All I wanted to say was that I still would really like to be friends, if you still want to. I leave the choice up to you and I'll respect whatever you choose. If you want to be friends, that'll be great, but if you don't and want me to stay away from you at all times, I'll do that too. It's your decision. I just hope that you can see that even though I may be Danny Phantom, I'm still first and foremost Danny Fenton."

Danny studied Valerie's face and he could tell she was having a hard time with everything. They'd been through a lot, and it was a lot for her to process. Maybe she just needed some time to think it over? Then again, maybe she was just trying to think of a nice way to say that she never wanted to see him again? Or she could be trying to decide where the nearest ecto-gun was hidden? As the minutes dragged on Danny's worry and apprehension increased. Finally, he just couldn't take it anymore.

"Alright, well, I'll let you think it over. I probably should be getting home. We have school tomorrow and…well…" he trailed off as he started walking towards the door.

"Danny," Valerie stated as she called after him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Unfortunately, the Specter Deflector was still activated around her waist. Danny tried to stifle back a short scream as the electric current circulated through his body. "Oh my gosh Danny, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that!" she apologized quickly as she deactivated the belt and stood near him, making sure he was okay.

"Don't worry about it. I've had worse," Danny stated as the awkwardness returned.

"Listen, I just need some time to think, okay? It's just…a lot to go over and…I just need some time, alright?"

"Yeah, of course. I understand."

"But I can tell you one thing; I don't think I'll be hunting you anymore."

Danny smiled. "Thanks. You don't know how much I appreciate that."

The white rings of light formed around his waste and transformed him into Danny Phantom as Valerie gasped in spite of herself. He smiled at her and turned intangible as he flew through the ceiling and into the night sky, feeling a little apprehensive, but overall very relieved.

* * *

Skulker flew through a large dark room, devoid of any ghosts. He kept his ghost tracking monitor on, constantly looking out for ghosts. He didn't want the owner of this ghost lair to find him because the result would be disastrous, both to him and his new master.

He didn't know how he got hooked up with this new master, it all just happened so quickly. He was attacking the Ghost Child in the Ghost Zone the previous week and was hit by one of his annoying ecto-blasts and found himself inside this strange ghost dwelling. Then he heard the voice, the voice that chilled his ectoplasm. It beckoned him to come nearer. When he introduced himself, Skulker knew there was no escape, and after hearing the voice's request, he realized he had a new master, whether willingly or not.

He stopped and looked through his hunting glasses while consulting his PDA before turning and continuing down a hallway. He reached the end and floated off the ground, waiting for his new master to address him.

"Did you deliver the message?" the malicious voice asked as Skulker continued to stare into the darkness ahead of him.

"Yes Master," he answered obediently.

"Good, good. Soon, very soon, Danny Fenton will cease to exist," the voice stated as its evil chuckle echoed down the hall.


	8. The Temptations of Invisibility

A/N: I'm so sorry this took so long to update! I had been spending almost all my time on Tortured Truth, thinking that this chapter was almost finished, but then when I went to post it I realized that it wasn't. Ooops. So, here it is and I'm really sorry.

Thanks so much for all the reviews of the Valerie chapter! I'm glad a lot of you weren't disappointed! I must say I was really nervous, so thanks for all your reviews!

* * *

Chapter Eight  
The Temptations of Invisibility

Danny jumped awake as his alarm clock rang loudly from beside his bed. Automatically he hit the snooze button and rolled back under the comfort and warmth of his covers, his head falling into his feather soft pillow. He let his thoughts drift as sleep almost overtook him again. He turned around in his sleep and noticed covers pulled tightly over his windows, blocking the sunshine from radiating into his room. He started to wonder why he would have covers blocking his window, not at all unthankful that it blocked out the cursed sun that signaled that he needed to arise from the warm comfort of his bed, but he was still curious as to why it was there. Then he remembered; he used it to block out photographers. He had to because his secret was revealed. He felt a weight drop inside him, making him feel heavy and depressed. He should be used to this by now. Every morning he would wake up and forget reality, hope that it hadn't really happened, that it was just some bad dream, but then he'd realize that it was indeed reality. Then he remembered with another jolt that his parents were forcing him to go to school today. He moaned and fell back under his covers, burying his head, hoping that if he didn't see them, they couldn't see him. He was about to drift back into blissful sleep where his secret was still his own and weekends were eternal until he heard a pound on his door.

"Danny? Danny you need to wake up. You have to go to school today. Wake up!" his sister shouted through his door as she continued to pound.

"Alright, I'm up!" he yelled back with no intention of rising out of the comforts of his bed. As long as he stayed under the covers, he could just pretend that it wasn't happening, as long as he stayed under the covers, he was in control and could do what he wanted, which right now consisted of not going to school.

He couldn't go to school yet, he wasn't ready. It was bad enough facing Valerie last night, let alone facing everyone at school in an hour. He needed more time, more time to interact with small groups of people before he tackled a larger crowd and maybe even more time after that before he dared tackle school. All his classmates would just stare at him all day, treating him differently, treating him like he was just a ghost instead of a human being.

Danny decided that there was no way he was going to school today. He just couldn't. He grabbed onto his sheets and one pillow and turned him and his choice beddings intangible as he fell to the floor, hiding underneath his bed. He rose to his knees, his torso sticking out of the bed as he arranged the rest of the covers to make it look like he had risen out of bed. Then he flew, invisible, to the bathroom, locked the door, and turned on the water, leaving the appearance that he was in the shower. Then he retreated back to his hiding place under the bed and lay down on the pillow as he pulled the sheet over his head. His parents couldn't make him go to school if they couldn't find him. Sure it was dusty and a little cramped, but under here he was safe from the prying eyes and the different looks. He was free from school and all it represented, all it promised.

He remained under the bed for about ten minutes, drifting in the land between sleep and consciousness when he heard his mother walk up to the door. He turned himself and his bedding invisible as he heard his mother stop in front of the door and knock.

"Mom, Danny's not in there!" Jazz yelled from her bedroom. "He's in the shower!"

"So he's getting ready for school?"

"Yeah. I woke him up this morning and reminded him and then he went into the shower," Jazz replied as joined her mother outside his door.

"You mean without complaint?" his mother questioned curiously.

"Yeah, he just shouted that he was awake and then…went in the shower," Jazz finished slowly as she started getting suspicious.

"How long ago was that?" Maddie asked, her voice colored with suspicion.

"About fifteen minutes ago," Jazz stated.

Danny then heard the door to his room open and heard his mother and sister's footsteps in his room.

"Well, he's not in here," he heard his mother state as he felt joyful. They were falling for it.

"Maybe he's just taking a long time in the shower?" Jazz suggested hopefully.

"Or he's hiding somewhere, and I'm going to find him. It's a good thing we set his alarm an hour early, otherwise he'd be late for school."

Danny almost blew his hiding spot and shouted out in anger. They had changed the time on his clock! They must have foreseen that he'd put up a fight before going to school. If he was late for school, he might be able to convince his parents that he couldn't go because if he was late it would seem like he was trying to make an entrance, which he really didn't need. Oh well, it didn't really matter. He just needed to stay hidden for an extra hour, and then he wouldn't have to go.

"Alright Jazz, go inform your father that Danny's hiding and we need to execute Operation Ghost Boy Detection like we planned last night. I'm going to see if he's in the bathroom, you check the downstairs, and tell Jack to check the lab."

_Operation Ghost Boy Detection?_ Danny thought. _Wow, they must know me better than I thought._

"Alright," Jazz agreed as Danny heard her retreating footsteps. Maddie sighed as her eyes moved around the room one more time before she too walked out of the room, leaving Danny alone under the bed, smiling in his triumph. Just like always, he found the loophole to their plan.

Danny remained under the bed, enjoying the feeling of being nearly asleep and hearing his family yell information back and forth to each other from around the house.

It had been a good twenty minutes and Danny still hadn't been found. They had to be combing the house looking for him. Maybe they'd even left to check other houses? They were being quite quiet.

Then he heard the door to his room open, his sense of security shaking.

"Alright, he's in this room," he heard his mother state. He had a bad feeling about this. He had a feeling he needed to get out of the room.

Just as he was about to consider flying out the room and hiding somewhere else, he felt something wrap around his torso. He tried to phase through it, but couldn't. He was trapped in the Fenton Fisher. His mother started reeling it in, pulling the still invisible Danny out from under the bed. As he started being lifted into the air, he saw his father standing with the Fenton Ghost Finder as it beeped softly, indicating there was a ghost in the room. So that's how they'd been able to find him. Stupid ghost inventions.

"Daniel James Fenton you gain visibility right now!" his mother ordered.

Danny realized he was trapped and appeared, looking quite depressed.

"Now really honey, what were you trying to do?" his mother asked as she put him on the floor and untied him.

"Well, I figured that if you couldn't find me, then you wouldn't make me go to school."

His mother sighed and wrapped an arm around him as she led him over to the bed.

"Sweetheart, I know you're worried, but you can't let this phase you."

"Yeah son, you did fine at that press conference," his father comforted as he sat on the other side of him.

"Yes, but there was a stage and a platform in between me and everyone else at the conference. At school there won't be," Danny pointed out.

"Well, there may not be a stage and a platform, but there will be something in between you and everyone else," his sister comforted as he looked at her quizzically. "Tucker, Sam, and me."

Danny smiled at her and jumped off the bed to give her a hug. "Thanks Jazz."

"Danny," his mother stated as she walked towards him and kneeled down so she was looking him in the eyes "I know you really don't want to go to school and I know you're scared and nervous about what your classmates are going to do and say to you, but you have to face it someday. You can't hide invisible under your bed and let them control your life."

Danny looked to the floor and realized that his mom was right, as always. He couldn't let them scare him into not going to school. First it would be school, and then the mall, and then public in general. He would become a hermit that would only emerge from the safety of his room to fight a ghost. He took a deep breath and met his mother's eyes again.

"You're right. I know I have to face them. It's just, I don't want to."

His mother hugged him tightly. "Danny, you can do it; we know you can. You've made it through worse stuff than this before."

His father walked over to him and clamped an arm on his shoulder. "Don't worry son, if ever there was a boy that could make it through this, it would be you."

Danny smiled.

"So, are you going to start getting ready for school?" his mother asked.

"Yeah," he answered, which received another hug. "But I'm stopping off for Lettuce Wraps first."

The three of them laughed. "All right, if you get ready soon enough you can go get some Lettuce Wraps," his mother promised.

Filled with words of comfort and encouragement (and the hope of Lettuce Wraps) Danny rushed off into the bathroom to get ready for school.

* * *

Danny heard a knock at the front door while he was eating his breakfast. He rose to answer the door and then thought better of it and sat back down. Ever since the mob outside he'd refused to open the door, just incase. He heard the knock on the door again.

"Can someone get the door?" Danny yelled.

"Why don't you get it?" Jazz yelled back.

Sisters. "Because if it's a reporter I don't want to be near the door!"

"Then go invisible, I'm busy!"

He grumbled as he turned invisible and walked over to the door. He poked his head through the door and noticed that it was just Tucker and Sam, who had arrived just like they promised they would. Danny pulled his head out of the door, regained visibility and tangibility, and opened the door.

"Danny, wow. I didn't think you'd be the one to open the door," Tucker commented.

"Yeah, well no one wanted to get the door and Jazz was being a loser."

"I didn't even think you'd be up," Sam stated as she walked into the house.

"Your confidence in me is overwhelming," Danny retorted sarcastically.

"Honestly, we were completely prepared to have to drag you out of bed because you wouldn't want to go to school."

"Yeah, well you're a bit late. My parents already saw through my plans to stay home from school." They looked at him in curiosity. "I decided to hide, invisible, under my bed. Well, they decided to use the Fenton Ghost Finder and saw that I was under the bed and they fished me out using the Fenton Ghost Fisher."

The two of them laughed joyously at Danny's story.

"What's so funny?"

"You!" Tucker managed to answer between laughs. "You really must be desperate to get out of school if your parents have to resort to their inventions to get you out of bed!"

"Yeah yeah."

"But seriously Danny, are you all right? Are you ready to go to school?" Sam asked, sounding concerned.

Danny sighed. "As ready as I'll ever be. I have to do it eventually; I might as well get it over with now."

"Danny! Are Tucker and Sam here yet?" Jazz yelled from upstairs.

"Hi Jazz!" Sam yelled up the stairs as Danny smiled.

Jazz walked into the kitchen with her bag and keys. "Hi. Are you done eating? We need to go if you wanted to stop of at PF Changs."

"Yeah, I'm done."

"Are you sure? You barely ate anything."

Danny looked down at his plate of waffles. As he was eating, he spent more time cutting and toying with his food than actually putting it into his mouth. He figured that if he pieced together all the pieces of waffle scattered around the plate that he could fully assemble two and a half of the three waffles he started with.

"Oh, well, I'm saving room for the Lettuce Wraps."

Jazz could tell he was lying since he never had to save room for Lettuce Wraps. With Danny, just the mention of those Chinese delicacies created room in his stomach. She didn't press him though. She figured he probably wasn't hungry or couldn't stomach anything out of nerves.

"Well then, should we head off?"

Danny looked around the kitchen and at his friends' encouraging faces. "Yeah, let's go."

Danny went upstairs to get his bag and stopped off at the basement to tell his parents he was leaving.

"Mom, Dad, we're leaving."

They looked up from their inventions and walked over to the stairs.

"Oh son, we're so proud of you," his father gushed as he gave him a comforting hug.

"Thanks Dad."

"Now, just remember that things will get better. Today will be hard, I won't lie to you, but it's just because it's still a shock. And don't worry about what people think. If they see you differently now, then they really don't matter, no matter how close you thought you were."

Danny nodded. He figured that the rest of the student body would treat him differently now, but none of them really mattered. He'd already talked to the people that mattered in his life, and if the rest of them didn't want to go near him or didn't see him the same way, he didn't care. It wasn't like they were that friendly to him before. But still, there was a big difference between avoiding him because of his loser status and avoiding him out of fear.

"Alright, you probably should head out," his mother stated as she hugged him again.

"And remember, if it all gets to be too much, you can always just fly back here," his father comforted with a clap on the shoulder.

"But try to stay the whole time, alright?"

Danny nodded.

"We'll be here when you get home."

Danny smiled as he walked back upstairs. His friends smiled at him and they headed towards the car.

* * *

"Danny Fenton! To what do we owe the honor?" the manager of PF Changs asked joyously as he emerged from the back. The hostess said she saw Danny and his friends walking up to the restaurant and immediately ran to fetch him. Someone this important definitely deserved a visit from the manager, especially after saving the restaurant a few nights ago.

"I'm off to school and I kinda need some comfort food."

"Ah, yes. Lettuce Wraps?" he asked with a smile.

Danny nodded. "Nothing calms the nerves like those pieces of heaven."

The manager laughed. "How many orders would you like?"

"Um, we'll go with three, just in case."

He smiled. "Anything for our number one customer. We'll have those right up for you."

"Thank you very much."

They left the restaurant, Lettuce Wraps in tow, and headed to Jazz's car. Once inside, Danny opened up the Lettuce Wraps and cherished in their sweet aroma. He piled the savory meat into the lettuce and bit down, relishing in the contrast between cold crispy lettuce and warm spicy chicken. He forgot about everything, about school, about the people in it, about life. All he thought about was the taste of the Lettuce Wrap.

Unfortunately, the stop of the car and the ceasing of the sound of the engine shook him out of his blissful thoughts. He looked up from his Lettuce Wrap and saw Casper High looming in front of him. He immediately paled. Not all the Lettuce Wraps in the world were going to save him now.

His sister opened the door next to him, but he remained motionless.

"Danny, come on. You have to do this. You can't be scared of this for your entire life. Tucker, Sam, and I will be right next to you the entire time. Everything will be fine."

Slowly and with great trepidation, Danny stepped out of the car. He noticed other students getting out of their cars as well, not paying him any attention. This didn't instill much hope in him though, since most of them were really just minding their own business and probably didn't even see him.

"Alright, now we're going to start walking to the school," Jazz told him as he nodded his head slowly, urging his feet to move. Tucker and Sam looked at each other and pushed him forward, forcing his legs to move.

They walked out of the parking lot and Danny's feet hit the cement of the walkway up to the school. He looked ahead of him and gazed upon Casper High. Oh how he didn't want to do this.

As he started walking towards the doors, students were finally starting to take notice that Danny was there. They stopped talking and stared at him as he walked up to the doors of the school.

The urge to turn invisible was exceedingly strong. He felt himself being pulled into the realm of the unseen but Jazz noticed what he was doing and jerked his arm, bringing him back to the visible world.

"No invisibility. The last thing they need is to see you use your powers," Jazz advised. "Now, I want you to know that no matter what happens today you have to remember that you're still just Danny Fenton, a fourteen year old boy who needs to go to school and just happens to fight ghosts on an extra-curricular basis. People will stare, but that's nothing new. People will stare at anything, whether it's a pimple on your face or a stain on your shirt. People will ask you questions, fawn over you, pester you to show off, but that's no different from the press conference. People may look at you differently and treat you differently, but what do they matter? People may tease you, call you a freak, but just remember that you're the one that saves their lives on a daily basis, and make sure they remember that too.

"It's like I told you before the press conference. You're the one with the power, you're the one holding all the cards. They'll do only what you let them do. Stay firm, put on the brave face that I know you have, and show them that you plan on living out the rest of high school like nothing happened."

Danny smiled at Jazz and hugged her. "Thanks Jazz."

"What are sisters for? Now, open those doors and show them you're not afraid of them."

Danny turned to look at Tucker and Sam. "You with me?"

"Always," they answered.

Danny took a deep breath and pushed open the doors to Casper High, ready for the first time that day to face the rest of the student body.

* * *

A/N: I know you're probably all planning on killing me right now for ending it there, but it was necessary. I know you've all been waiting for Casper High's reaction and I'm sorry I have to make you wait another chapter, but you know me, I can't pass up a chance for psychological trauma. I promise though, it'll be in the next chapter!


	9. Wall of Support

A/N: I am so so sorry about the late update! I was suffering from the traditional "I'm really nervous about this chapter because everyone's been looking forward to it" syndrome that I continually seem to catch. But, I finally decided that rereading it about 15 times was a bit ridiculous and that I just needed to post it, regardless of my nerves. So, here it is, Danny's first day back at school, for real.

Thanks so much to all of my reviewers for the last chapter!I cannot describe how awesome it makes me feelwhen I see all the glorious reviews you guys leave! And thank you for being so understanding about the long waits and the evil cliffie after the last chapter! After seeing the length of this one, you should understand why I stopped it!

Note: The rating has now changed due to some foul language (but not too foul) and some graphic depictions generated by Sam's mind. (This will make more sense after you read more).

* * *

Chapter Nine  
Wall of Support

Danny, Sam, Tucker, and Jazz walked through the doors and down the halls of Casper High. The other students turned and stared at them, whispering to their friends.

"It's Danny Fenton!"

"Oh my gosh!"

"He's actually coming to school!"

"He's actually here!"

Danny started shifting nervously as he walked, quickly losing his determined attitude. His gaze shifted towards at the rows of lockers on either side of him, looking at all the students grouping together and whispering as they watched him walk down the hall. He started to slow down but he felt his sister push him onward.

"Just keep walking," she whispered to him.

Finally he reached his locker and he started turning the lock with shaking hands as people grouped around the locker, staring at him and his friends. He opened his locker and grabbed his books before turning around and facing the large crowd around him. How was he supposed to get to class in this mess?

"Um…guys…I need to get to class so can you please just…go away, or something?" he asked nervously to the crowd.

The crowd looked at each other and back at Danny, not sure whether or not they wanted to obey his request. Most of them looked absolutely ecstatic that he actually addressed them, but Danny saw a look of fear and wonderment on some of their faces.

"Hey, he asked if you would go away so he could get to class!" Sam yelled at them, stepping in front of Danny, separating him from the stares of the crowd. "He's just a regular student who needs to get to class, so can you please let him pass!"

"A regular student who happens to be part ghost," a student piped up. Many students murmured in agreement.

Jazz stepped in up and stood next to Sam. "So what? He still needs to get to class!"

"If he wants to get to class he can go intangible and walk through us!" another student commented as the rest of the students agreed.

"Or he could fly over us!" another one suggested.

"Give me a break!" Danny muttered as Tucker too moved in front of him.

"Because he shouldn't have to!" Tucker yelled at them.

"Uncle Tom's Cabin! What's going on here?" Mr. Lancer asked as he walked towards the circle of people surrounding Danny and his barrier.

"They won't let Danny through so he can get to class!" Jazz exclaimed.

Mr. Lancer shoved his way through to the students until he was standing in front of Danny's friends.

"Alright everyone this is ridiculous. Mr. Fenton is just another student at Casper High, and as such he needs to attend his classes and spend time with his friends without being followed by a mob of fanatical students! As such, I don't want to see anything like this _ever_ happen again," Lancer threatened. "If I see anyone following him around or preventing him from getting to his classes again, the worst punishment imaginable will be dealt to you, do I make myself clear?"

Danny had never seen Lancer so angry in his life. It seemed like he radiated anger from his body, his eyes gleaming with anger.

The rest of the students seemed to notice this as well because the crowd quickly dissipated, the stragglers earning an evil glare from Lancer before they too rushed off to their lockers, looking at Danny from afar.

"I'm extremely sorry Mr. Fenton," Mr. Lancer apologized as he turned towards Danny who had emerged from behind his wall of friends. "This shouldn't be happening and I'm exceedingly sorry that it is."

"It's not your fault," Danny answered. "And thank you."

"Anytime Mr. Fenton, anytime. Please alert me the moment that something like this happens again, yes?"

"Of course."

"Well, I believe you have a class to attend Mr. Fenton. I wish you the best of luck today; you're going to need it."

"Thanks Mr. Lancer."

"Wow, Mr. Lancer actually stood up for you," Tucker stated in awe.

"Yeah. I get the feeling he's going to be doing that a lot from now on," Danny commented, still trying to recover from what had just happened.

"Danny, I think we should get to class and out of the hall as soon as possible," Sam suggested, still noticing that they were the object of everyone's stares.

"Good idea."

"Good luck Danny," Jazz wished. "I have to go to my class, but I'll be back to check up on you."

"Thanks Jazz."

The three of them walked towards Biology, their first class, only to find that everyone was already sitting in the classroom even though class didn't start for another five minutes. They were all waiting for Danny to enter the classroom so they could talk to him in a more confined group.

Danny walked nervously to his desk and sat down, Sam and Tucker next to him as whispers started among the other students.

Danny looked around the room and noticed Dash sitting with his football buddies, whispering to them while looking and pointing at Danny. He looked over and saw Valerie sitting with her head down. She looked up at him and smiled a sympathetic smile, showing him that she was sorry he was being forced to go through this. He returned a slight smile in gratitude, but it was quickly replaced by a stoic expression as he continued to notice more and more students whispering about him to their friends.

Then he heard movement and turned around to see Paulina moving from her usual seat to sit behind Danny. He quickly turned around to face front, hoping that Lancer would come in soon so class would start.

"Hey Danny," Paulina cooed from behind him. He rolled his eyes and turned around to face her. The whispering had stopped and all eyes were on him and Paulina.

"Yes Paulina?" he asked, somewhat sarcastic.

"Did you get the letter I sent you?" she asked sweetly, batting her eyelashes. A few days ago, this would have been a dream come true for Danny, but now, he no longer cared. She was just like the rest of them; she just wanted him because he was Danny Phantom.

"You mean that pink abomination that's now a pile of charred paper in my trash can? Yeah, I got it."

Paulina's smile flickered for a second but returned with its former confidence. "Well, I meant everything I said on it. I adore you Danny."

"The Fenton or the Phantom part?" he snapped harshly.

Paulina faltered. "Both," she answered.

"That's just because you know that's what I want you to say. Admit it Paulina, you don't like the Fenton part of me anymore than you did before, and you never will. In your eyes, I'm still the same loser I always was, except now with ghost powers."

Paulina's eyes were wide with shock. She looked ready to retort when Mr. Lancer stepped into the room, much to the disappointment of the rest of the class.

Mr. Lancer cleared his throat, ceasing all the whispers. "Now, I would like to state something before I begin the lecture. I don't know how many of you heard my little speech in the hall, so I'll repeat it for you. While Mr. Fenton may be the infamous Danny Phantom, he is still a student at this school and as such he still needs to attend his classes, take notes, and pay attention during the lecture. That being said, I don't want to see any of you treating him any differently. There will be no whispering, no constant badgering, no fawning, and no teasing. Any such acts will merit a punishment as harsh as can be administered without going against school rules, understood?" The class nodded in agreement. "Very well. Now, we shall resume our discussion on photosynthesis…"

Inside, Danny felt a rush of gratitude towards Mr. Lancer. He immediately took back everything bad he'd ever said about him. In just the past ten minutes he'd already stuck up for him twice.

Throughout the class, the students still continued to shift their attention over towards him while taking their notes. It seemed like they were trying to examine him and pass judgment on whether or not he was still just a student like them. Danny suddenly became aware of everything he'd do, every action he'd make, like he was on some dog show and his fellow students were the judges, deciding whether or not he could still be considered a student, whether he could still be considered human.

Finally the bell rang and for the first time no one jumped up immediately to leave. Instead, they all waited as Danny packed his stuff up, not wanting to leave the room without him. Danny noticed this and looked at Tucker and Sam for support. Both of them shrugged their heads, not knowing what to do in this situation. Normally he would have just left, but he wanted to talk to Mr. Lancer, to thank him yet again for standing up for him.

"Secret Garden! You don't have to wait for him to leave class!" Lancer yelled furiously at all of them as they jumped and bolted out of the classroom, remembering his threats of punishment.

"Again Mr. Fenton I feel I must apologize."

"For what?" Danny asked, confused. He was sticking up for him, defending him; he didn't need to apologize for anything.

"For the behavior of the students. I believe you deserve an apology for their horrid behavior and I know no one else will give it to you."

"Thank you Mr. Lancer, I appreciate it."

"Of course Mr. Fenton."

"Mr. Lancer, I just wanted to thank you, for sticking up for me, both back in the hall and at the beginning of class," Danny thanked as he walked towards Mr. Lancer's desk.

Tucker and Sam realized this wasn't a conversation they needed to be a part of and decided to leave the safety of the classroom.

"There's no need to thank me for that Mr. Fenton. I did what any respectable man would have done."

"Still, it makes me feel a lot better knowing that you're there for me."

Mr. Lancer stood up from behind his desk and stood level with Danny, putting a hand on his shoulder and looking him in the eyes. "Mr. Fenton, I know today's going to be hard and it's going to be an extremely difficult few weeks. We had a staff meeting this morning regarding you and even though all the teachers agreed on some policies a few of them don't seem so partial towards you. But you can't let the actions of the ignorant student body and some biased teachers get you down. You have so many people sticking up for you: your parents, your sister, your friends, not to mention a few students and teachers and probably a few other citizens."

"I know. It's just, every little bit helps, makes me feel better."

"I understand. But still, we're all wishing you to do well, to struggle through this, to get on with your life."

"Or what's left of it," Danny joked with a smile.

Mr. Lancer smiled back. "That's exactly the attitude I like to see: making jokes, still having fun."

The warning bell sounded through the school and Lancer sighed, clearly not pleased that their talk would be ending.

"Mr. Fenton, I would still like to continue talking to you later, if that's alright with you."

"Of course Mr. Lancer."

"After school or during lunch?"

"During lunch. I think by the time school's over it'll be a challenge not to get up and fly out of here as fast as I can."

Mr. Lancer chuckled, amazed at how open Danny was with his powers around people he trusted. "Alright then, during lunch in here. I'll be waiting."

"Okay," Danny agreed as he started walking out the door.

"Oh and Mr. Fenton, good luck."

Danny smiled back and dashed out of the classroom, running through the blissfully empty hallways towards his locker before running to his next class.

* * *

Danny dashed into the door just as the bell rang. He let out a sigh, not wanting to be tardy. He didn't know whether or not his teachers would go easy on him since he was the ghost boy and he really didn't feel like having detention today.

"Just in time Mr. Fenton," his math teacher, Mr. Dickens, stated sharply, giving him an evil glare.

Danny smiled weakly as he headed towards his seat.

"Why are you late Danny?" a student pestered.

"Was it a ghost?"

Danny sighed. "For your information not everything I do involves ghosts. I was talking to Mr. Lancer," he informed as he sat down.

"Mr. Fenton, I'm trying to teach here."

"Sorry Mr. Dickens," Danny apologized, even though he knew it really wasn't his fault.

"Just because you're part ghost does not mean you can make a scene when entering my classroom and disrupt the class."

"I know and I didn't mean to…"

"Even students who are half dead must still obey school laws," Mr. Dickens taunted as he turned towards the board, not seeing Danny's eyes flash green.

Danny heard Dash snicker to his buddies behind him. Danny wanted to retort that it wasn't his fault but he remembered that Mr. Lancer had said that some of his teachers weren't too thrilled at still having him as a student. Mr. Dickens was obviously one of them.

"Alright class, let's go over the weekend's homework." The sound of rustling pages echoed around the classroom as students pulled out their pages of homework and opened their books. Like usual, Danny simply pulled out a piece of paper, ready to copy down the examples he did on the board so he'd have something to study later.

"Mr. Fenton, why don't you have your homework?" Mr. Dickens asked.

Danny stared up in disbelief at his teacher. He had never cared before, so why now? Because now he knew he was half ghost. He didn't see him as another student, but an outsider, someone who didn't belong at the school, someone who wasn't human, someone who deserved to be picked on.

He had expected these thoughts from other students, but not from his teachers. He had always generally believed that teachers were supposed to be less shallow, less judgmental. Mr. Dickens, however, seemed to be shattering this belief.

"I never had a chance to do it," Danny answered.

"Really? Because I would have thought that since you were holed up in your house all weekend due to the press that you would have had plenty of time to do your homework."

"Well, I had other things on my mind," Danny answered coolly, trying not to lose his temper. Could he possibly be stupid enough to not realize that he wasn't entirely emotionally stable during that period? Or did he realize it and was just trying to aggravate him. Well, if it was the latter, it sure was working.

"That's no excuse Mr. Fenton. You haven't done your homework for many months and continue to either fail tests or skip classes."

"That's because he's been fighting ghosts every night!" Sam yelled out in Danny's defense, much to the agreement of some of the other students.

"Ms. Manson, that is not the tone of voice to use to your teachers," he reprimanded.

"And that's not the tone of voice to use to one of your students!" Sam yelled back.

"Detention, Ms. Manson."

"For what? For standing up for Danny because you're being particularly biased against him?" Tucker shouted. More murmured agreement sounded from the other students.

"Mr. Foley, you will be joining Ms. Manson in detention, and another outbreak by either of you will result in detention every day for the rest of the week."

Danny's eyes glowed green as anger surged through him. There was no reason for the two of them to receive detention; they were just sticking up for him.

"Do that again with your eyes Mr. Fenton and you will be joining them," his teacher threatened. "I will not tolerate you using your abnormal powers in my classroom."

His eyes returned to their normal blue color as he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. He remembered that he didn't want detention today and now, more than before, he wanted to get out of the school.

"Now that we've put the ghost and his friends in their place, let's continue on with class."

Underneath his desk Danny snapped one of his pencils in half, trying to relieve some of the anger. So he did just see him as some inhuman ghost, forgetting the fact that he was still partly human. How in the world was he supposed to survive the rest of the year if math was going to be like this every day? He was definitely going to talk to Mr. Lancer about this at lunch.

Danny didn't pay much attention to the lesson for the rest of class. He spent most of his time in an imaginary world where he could do anything to anyone he wanted without consequences or moral judgment. He imagined Mr. Dickens running around in darkness being chased and shot at by all of his ghost enemies while he floated above them all, laughing.

Finally the bell rang and Danny stood up to dash out of class.

"Mr. Fenton."

Danny stopped, his eyes flashing green for just a moment. He turned around and walked towards Mr. Dickens, summing up every ounce of self control he possessed to prevent himself from ecto-blasting him out the window.

"Yes Mr. Dickens?" he responded, his voice extremely controlled.

"I just wanted to inform you that though you may not have detention today, if you come to class tomorrow without a complete homework assignment or act out again in class, I will make sure that you will. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

"Yes Mr. Dickens," he replied, still trying to control his tone.

"And I also wanted to let you know that I'm as unhappy to still have you in my class as I'm sure you are to be in my class."

"Well at least we have one thing in common," he replied bitterly as he swept towards the door. Before he left, he turned towards his now least favorite teacher. "You know Mr. Dickens, there are two kinds of things in this world: those than can change, and those that can't. Me being part ghost, that can't change, but your attitude towards me, that can change, if you start to see that I'm more than just some ghost and that I'm still human too."

He stormed through the door and slammed it behind him, hoping that something he said penetrated his teacher's thick skull.

* * *

"What a son of a bitch!" Sam yelled, slamming her locker door as Danny approached. "That horrible, lousy, prejudiced bastard!"

"Yeah, I can't believe I ever liked that teacher," Tucker commented as he too slammed his locker door.

"Oh if only I could get a hold of him. I'd tie him to a chair and peel his skin off with a vegetable peeler and then pour lemon juice on it," Sam described, a manic glint in her eyes.

Danny shuddered at the thought as he grabbed his books out of his locker before heading to his next class. The sooner he got out of the hallway the better, owing to the fact that everyone was still staring at him.

"Remind me not to make Sam mad," Danny whispered to Tucker as Sam continued to depict the different torture methods she'd use on Mr. Dickens.

"Remind _me _not to make her mad. You might at least survive some of those, or at least find a way to escape," Tucker replied as he shuddered at Sam's most recent elaboration involving said teacher being chased over a barbed wire fence by rabid weasels only to end up in a pit of acid.

They entered their next class to the same amount of stares as the previous two. Danny just sat down, still not comfortable with the stares, but he was starting to get used to them, to expect them. Thankfully, all they wanted to do was stare. Most of them had been in his previous math class and felt an awkward silence present between themselves and Danny, feeling like they should say something, but not really knowing what to say.

Danny didn't mind the silence. He actually found it quite welcoming. Having been accompanied all day with constant questions and whispers the silence felt good. Unfortunately, the silence also gave Danny time to think about his history teacher's reaction to him. Would she be like Mr. Dickens? Well, if he could handle him he supposed he could handle his history teacher as well. She couldn't possibly be worse.

Fortunately his teacher, though not welcoming, was at least better mannered Mr. Dickens. She was obviously frightened by his presence and wouldn't even look at him or ask him to answer any questions like she usually did. The only time she seemed to acknowledge his presence was when she was forced to look in his general direction. Her eyes would open wide with fear and her voice would get steadily higher and squeakier.

Finally the bell rang and he retreated to his locker. If was finally time for lunch, which meant that he could finally talk to Mr. Lancer.

"So, I say you've broken about even," Tucker declared.

"What are you talking about?" Danny asked, confused.

"Well, you had math where the teacher would constantly give you negative attention followed by history where the teacher wouldn't even acknowledge your existence! Isn't that just weird?"

"Tucker, only you would think of something like that," Danny replied with a smile.

"Hey Fentonia! Or should I say _Phantomia_!"

Danny turned around to see Dash marching up to him, muscles flexed, eyes narrowed. A large group followed behind him, probably wanting to watch the show. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned towards Danny and Dash. Many of them looked shocked to see Dash still executing his daily Fenton torture, knowing full well that Danny was the infamous and powerful ghost boy.

Danny sighed, knowing that Dash's teasing would come eventually. Still, he had half hoped that maybe Dash would be smart enough to realize that he wasn't dealing with the same old Fenton.

"Yes Dash?" he answered, a cocky smirk on his face.

"You think you're so cool now Fenton, don't you? Now that everyone knows that you're Danny Phantom. But you know something, you were right in Lancer's class, you're still the same loser you've always been, except now you're also a freak!"

He quickly grabbed Danny by the collar and artfully shoved him into his locker, slamming the door with a laugh.

"Even as the Ghost Boy I can shove you into a locker! You're not so tough! You're a weak and pathetic loser, just like you've always been," Dash teased as he laughed even harder, all the popular students joining in.

Inside the locker, Danny's eyes were glowing bright green. He wasn't going to take any more of this. Jazz had told him that they were only going to go as far as he'd let them, and things had gone far enough. He might not be able to do anything to his jerky teachers, but he certainly could show Dash that conquering the Ghost Boy wasn't as easy as he thought. He was going to show them why his name and presence was feared in the Ghost Zone.

A bright light erupted from inside the locker and Danny floated out the top in ghost mode, much to the gasps of everyone in the crowd. They stared at him in wonder, but he didn't care. Right now, he wanted to deal with Dash.

"See Dash, I think the point of being shoved into a locker is to, I don't know, make sure that person will stay _in_ the locker. Kinda loses its kick when said victim can escape just by phasing through the door."

"Well then get down here so we can do it proper," he challenged, cracking his knuckles.

"Oh yes, so you can grab me and stuff me into the locker so that I can float out again. Brilliant."

"Fine, then we'll handle this the real way."

"The real way? What's that?" Then Danny noticed Dash's clenched fists and fighting stance. "Fighting? You've got to be joking me. You actually want to fight me?"

"What, afraid?"

"No, I just know that I'll win," he stated simply as he floated down to the ground, the group clearing a large circle for them.

Dash lunged at Danny who just turned intangible, allowing Dash to fall right through him and into the crowd, knocking over a few bystanders. He got up and tried again but Danny simply remained intangible, putting his hand over his mouth, faking a yawn.

"Dash, why don't you just give up and save the small amount of credibility you have as a bully while you can? I don't know about you, but I can do this all day." Danny really didn't want to hurt him, since that would hurt the image he'd been trying so hard to build. He just wanted to completely humiliate him, and that was working out really nicely.

"Why don't you do something more than just being all see-through? Or is that the only thing you can do?"

"It's called intangible Dash. If you had more than half a brain cell, you'd know that," he ridiculed as Dash took a swipe at his head, his had going cleanly through it. "And you want something more? Alright." He smiled right before he disappeared from sight.

"Is this more what you were talking about?" Danny's disembodied voice asked tauntingly as Dash looked around confused.

"Why don't you show yourself?" Dash yelled, not really knowing how to fight an invisible opponent.

"Well you wanted me to do something else," Danny answered mockingly as he appeared, floating above the circle. "You see Dash, even without attacking you I still manage to beat you." He landed on the floor, Dash backing away from him slowly. "And you know what, now that the secret's out, I don't have to put up with you anymore. I don't have to take your daily torment; I can fight back. I don't have to let you throw me into the locker, don't have to wait for you to leave before I phase myself through the door, don't have to sit idly by and let you constantly poke fun at me or pick on me. I don't have to go easy and I don't have to hold back. So, for your own good, go find someone else to pick on, or better yet, don't pick on anyone at all.

"Now, if you'll excuse me," Danny remarked as the white rings formed around his waist, changing him into his human form "I have to meet with Mr. Lancer."

He walked towards the edge of the circle and the crowd parted for him, allowing him to walk easily through them, Tucker and Sam following behind him, both looking pleased.

"I am so never going to forget that moment," Tucker commented, relishing in the memories of the fight. "Watching Dash run right through you was just priceless!"

"I'm going to relish in this moment for the rest of lunch," Sam replied in a dreamy tone, obviously lost in her world of instant replay.

"You do that. I'm going to talk to Lancer and I probably won't see you for all of lunch, so I'll see you in PE," Danny informed.

"Alright, see you later."

They parted and Danny headed towards Mr. Lancer's room, hoping that he wasn't too late. He knocked on the door and, upon hearing Mr. Lancer grant him permission to enter, opened it to a smiling teacher.

"Mr. Fenton, please take a seat and feel welcome to eat your lunch in here in case our conversation takes all hour."

Danny sat down and pulled out the rest of his Lettuce Wraps and began eating while Mr. Lancer began to eat his sandwich.

"How has your day been?"

"Probably as good as it can be, given the situation."

"Yes, that's probably true. There are a number of things I would like to discuss Mr. Fenton and then if there's anything else you wish to talk to me about then feel free to do so.

"I'd like to start by explaining some new policies that the principle and your teachers developed this morning. First, you cannot be given detention for being late to class if there was a ghost attack. Second, if you end up missing a class due to an attack, just let the teacher know later that day and you will be excused from the class and given the homework. Third, if you need to leave during a ghost attack, you merely need to raise your hand and tell the teacher that there's a ghost and you're free to leave the class. Now, in regards to homework…"

Mr. Lancer was cut off by a blue mist emerging from Danny's mouth.

"Mr. Fenton, may I ask…?"

"Ghost sense. It lets me know when there's a ghost nearby," he answered as the Box Ghost entered the room.

"I am the Box Ghost! You shall all be neatly packaged and shipped in my cubic boxes of doom! Beware!"

Danny turned around, his eyes glowing green. "What is your problem? Can't you leave me alone for a day or two? Can't you see that I'm trying to have an important discussion with my teacher and that you're interrupting us?"

"No, for I am the Box Ghost! It is my duty to…"

"To shut up!" Danny yelled as he shot an ecto-blast at him while reaching for his thermos with his other hand. As the Box Ghost staggered from the blast Danny uncapped the thermos and aimed it at the ghost, sucking him into the blue beam.

Danny turned around and faced a wide-eyed Mr. Lancer. "Sorry about that," Danny apologized.

Mr. Lancer shook himself out of his awe, having never really seen Danny use his powers. He'd never even seen a ghost, other than Danny, first hand. "That's quite alright Mr. Fenton. Now, we were discussing your homework situation."

Danny smiled, grateful to see Mr. Lancer getting right back on topic. Most other people would have started freaking out with excitement because he'd just used his powers, but not Mr. Lancer. Sure he looked a little awestruck, but he just got right back to their conversation like nothing had happened.

"I must admit it was extremely difficult trying to find a solution to this dilemma. We would all like to see you do your homework but we also know that you have an extremely busy schedule to which you neither have control of nor can deviate from. So, we decided that we will only assign homework that is relevant or important and not the excess fluff of projects and such. You also have a week to hand in each homework assignment and if you need an extension you need only ask. Does this sound like it will work? You know how busy you are more than we do."

"Yeah, that'll be more than helpful," Danny answered.

"Now, this isn't an official policy and I don't know how many teacher will choose to enact it, but I wanted to inform you that when grading tests and essays and such I will take into consideration that you spend most of your time ghost fighting."

Danny's eyes brightened. "Are you serious?" he asked, amazed. This was better than he ever expected. He should have told Mr. Lancer sooner!

"I'm quite serious Mr. Fenton. I'm sure that, given the minds of your parents and sister, you are extremely smart, just a little lazy and extremely busy. The fact that you're still passing even though you spend all your time fighting ghosts I think proves this theory. I'm sure that were your situation different, you'd actually have time to study and try hard and get good grades. Therefore, I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt."

"Thank you Mr. Lancer. I really don't know what to say."

"Oh it's nothing. Just consider it a thank you from the school for saving our lives almost every day," Lancer remarked with a smile.

Danny blushed as he smiled back.

"Now, I'd also just like to state that even though these policies are in effect for you and possibly Mr. Foley and Ms. Manson, we don't see you as anything other than a student. You are getting special privileges and I know you just want to be treated like a regular student, but they are in effect because of your unique situation. We're just trying to work around it as best as possible so that you can be a regular student and not struggle with your grades. Does this make sense?"

Danny nodded, glad that Lancer took the time to mention that. He did want to be treated like a regular student but he was also really glad that these new policies would be in effect. With these new policies he could finally balance his school and ghost fighting lives and maybe actually do well in school.

"Good. Now I'd like to take this opportunity to reiterate that I'm always here if you need someone to talk to about anything, school related or not. No matter what, I'm always here."

"I appreciate that Mr. Lancer."

"That being said, I'd like to finish by asking you if there's anything you'd like to tell me about what's happened today."

"Well actually, there was. It's my math teacher, Mr. Dickens."

"Ah yes, I was expecting you to mention him. He was one of your teachers that was extremely adamant against giving you special treatment. He seemed to think that you didn't deserve it."

"Of course he doesn't; that blind jerk only sees me as a ghost." Danny proceeded to relate the events of the class and all the prejudiced things Mr. Dickens had done and said. As he continued to relay the information, Mr. Lancer got increasingly angry.

"Well that is definitely going to change. That is completely uncalled for and there is no reason for you to be forced to put up with that. You may inform Mr. Foley and Ms. Manson that they do not have detention today. I'm going to talk to him after school today and set him straight. He had no right to say any of those things to you or specifically pick on you. If this still continues, come and talk to me and we'll find you a new teacher. Anything else?"

Danny then told him about his history teacher and her fearful attitude towards him. Again Lancer looked shocked that someone could be so cruel and vowed to talk to her as well.

"Well, if that's all that happened today, I will open this conversation to your questions as I promised."

Danny stared at the desk, knowing that he had a question that had been bothering him all day, but he didn't really know how to ask it. He felt awkward asking it, but he knew he had to.

"Actually, can I ask you a really awkward question?"

"Of course, Mr. Fenton."

"And will you promise to be completely truthful?"

"Of course."

"Do you see me any differently, now that you know I'm not completely…human?" The reactions he'd received from his two teachers, the reactions from the student body, the reaction from Dash all made him feel more inhuman, more separate from everyone else. He told himself that their reactions wouldn't matter, but who was he fooling? They did matter to him. Now these feelings left him insecure with this question lingering in his mind. He knew that Tucker, Sam, and his family didn't see him any different, but what about people he wasn't completely close to, like Lancer or Valerie? He already knew that Valerie saw him differently, but what about Lancer?

He noticed that Mr. Lancer paused, looking as if he was trying to find the best way to answer the question.

"I was about to ask you why you would ask such a preposterous question that has such a clear answer, but were I in your position I'd probably be asking the same thing, and I can see that this is important to you. When I look at you, Mr. Fenton, I see a young boy full of courage, bravery, wit, creativity, and laziness, the same things I saw in you before I knew you were the ghost boy. You're still the same Daniel Fenton to me. You're still going to arrive to class late, still going to skip an occasional class, still going to leave your homework incomplete. The only thing that has changed is that now, I know why."

Danny smiled, knowing that Mr. Lancer meant what he said.

"And if you're worried about whether other people see you differently, which I'm sure you are otherwise you wouldn't be asking this question, you just have to remember that most people aren't intelligent or completely accepting. Yes, they will see you differently for now, but eventually as time passes this ghost thing will become common place, just like how ghost attacks are common place now. They'll eventually start seeing you as Danny Fenton again and treat you like they usually do, just like Mr. Baxter shoving you into your locker before our meeting."

Danny looked up at him, shocked that he knew about that.

"Yes Mr. Fenton, I heard about that. I must say though that I'm glad to see you finally sticking up for yourself. And, off the record, I personally believe that you should have hit him."

Danny smiled. He realized that with Mr. Lancer's help in addition to the support of his friends and sister he would be able to survive school. Lancer was right, things would get back to normal eventually, he just needed to give it time.

* * *

A/N: So, hoping it met your expectations, like always. And for those of you who wanted more of certain things, there's still day two at school either next chapter or the chapter after, depending on length, but I have some really fun stuff planned! smiles evilly

I just wanted to explain about the weasel and acid torture method. That's a tribute to the Weasel Run, a torture my friend developed to subject people in movies, books, or tv shows that annoy us to.


	10. Ghostly Vow

A/N: I cannot express how sorry I am that it took so long to get this chapter up. I really am sorry. School's been crazy and it was Philosophy paper time again. This month's subject: Karl Marx vs. Georg Hegel, two philosophers who are exceptionally hard to understand (at least for me). It was so torturous because I really really wanted to write butI couldn't and it drove me crazy! It probably didn't help that Kingdom Hearts II came out this week and I spent almost all weekend playing that game...

Anyways, the chapter's done and the next one's almost done too, so that's a good thing! They were originally going to be the same chapter, but it started getting way too long and I just decided to stop here. I hope you don't get too mad at me!

Oh, and thank you for all your reviews! I know I say this all the time, but I really mean it. You guys are what keeps me writing, so thanks a bunch! And I'm sorry to repay your kind words by taking so long to update!

* * *

Chapter Ten  
Ghostly Vow

Danny didn't leave Mr. Lancer's room until the end of lunch as they talked over many different topics. Danny had never realized that Lancer was actually quite easy to talk to and had a vast amount of experience that he was more than willing to impart onto his students, if they gave him the chance. Danny didn't think he could look at Mr. Lancer the same way again after their conversation. Instead of seeing him as just some boring teacher he now saw him as a man to be respected, one that had many answers, one he could go to in his times of need.

Danny rejoined everyone in PE and told Tucker and Sam that he'd relay his lunch conversation with Lancer later, since Coach Tetslaff didn't seem to be in a good mood, and based on the attitudes he'd been receiving from his other teachers, he didn't think he should risk making her mad.

To Danny's surprise though, PE was actually tolerable, for the first time in a while. He didn't have to hold back, pretend to be the weakling that he was before the accident. When they ran he could be at the front of the line with Sam. When they lifted weights he gave Dash a run for his money. Even Coach Tetslaff was impressed at his new physical fitness, though it never occurred to her that it was because he was a ghost. Then again, most of the student population believed that her IQ was equal to the number of pepperoni slices on a vegi pizza. Dash continuously accused him of using his ghost powers to cheat, but no one was really paying any attention to him save his best friends. They were all too busy seeing what he could really do without limitations. Most of them were convincing him to cheat and use his ghost powers anyways.

After PE Danny stood by his lockers, still feeling uncomfortable at all the glances directed towards him. He knew they would probably never go away and he probably wouldn't get used to them, but he was starting to accept that people would be looking at him strange for quite possibly the rest of his life.

"So Danny, what happened with Mr. Lancer?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, what could you possibly talk about for the entire lunch hour?" Tucker asked.

"Oh lots of stuff: homework policies, Mr. Dickens, telling me I should have punched Dash sooner."

"Wow, I'm impressed."

"So, what are the new policies?" Sam asked.

"They're being super lenient, it's going to be great! I have a week to do all my homework and if I so much as say that I have to go fight a ghost I'm automatically excused!"

"Lucky," Tucker muttered.

"You should have told Mr. Lancer sooner," Sam replied. "It would have made your life a lot easier."

"I think you should have told a lot of us a lot sooner," a voice remarked from behind him. He turned around and noticed Valerie standing, looking somewhat nervous.

"Valerie, hi," Danny greeted, feeling the same nervousness.

"We'll see you in class," Sam stated as she grabbed Tucker and they walked away, knowing that this was between the two of them.

"So…how's your day been?" Valerie asked, trying to carry on polite conversation.

"Better than expected," Danny answered.

"Are your teachers treating you well?"

"Reasonably. Mrs. Blathers is absolutely petrified of me and, well, you know how Mr. Dickens was acting."

"Yeah. He had no right to do that."

"Thanks. It really makes me feel good hearing you say that. I had to admit that before last night I thought you'd act like that towards me as well."

Valerie smiled weakly. "I had every intention of doing that if I did happen to see you. I thought about just avoiding you, figuring that if I didn't talk to you or see you then I wouldn't have to take a side. But then I realized that you wouldn't stay away from school forever and that I'd have to see you eventually. I was so torn, which was why I looked like such a wreck at the door last night. But after you left last I gave what you said a lot of thought and I decided that you were right. You're not just a ghost, you're a person too, and I need to accept that."

Danny smiled at her, relieved that she realized what he'd hoped.

"And I do still want to be your friend, but it might take awhile to get back to where we were. I hope you understand."

"Of course. However long you need is fine."

"And I hope you don't take this as an insult, because it's not. You're a wonderful person Danny, but I just…need to get used to it, you know?"

"Yeah, I do. Don't worry about it."

The warning bell rang and the two of them just smiled nervously.

"Well, we probably should get to class," Valerie suggested.

"Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow?" Danny asked.

Valerie nodded her head and started walking off to her class. Danny shut his locker and started heading in the opposite direction but turned around.

"Hey Valerie?" She turned around at the mention of her name. "Thanks."

"No problem." She smiled and then started walking to class before turning around again. "Oh and Danny?" He turned around. "You can call me Val."

Danny smiled and rushed off to class, feeling happier than he'd felt all day. At last, everything was starting to get better. He was going to school and he was actually surviving it, Valerie was willing to be friends again, he didn't have to worry as much about school work, and it seemed that people were getting more used to the fact that he was there. Things weren't as bad as he thought they would be. Maybe he could actually survive this. Maybe things wouldn't turn out to be that bad.

* * *

Again Skulker found himself facing the shadowed ghost in the mysterious ghost dwelling, the dark hallway lingering ahead of him ominously. He kneeled, waiting for his master to address him so he could give his report.

"Is the second part of the plan in action?" the malevolent voice echoed down the hall.

"Yes Master. It's in effect as we speak."

"Good, good. But it still isn't enough. He's not dejected enough, probably because his meddling and loyal friends and family are constantly supporting him, stemming his depression."

"I agree Master and I'm sorry but there's nothing more I can do."

"Yes there is," he added slowly, evil dripping off each syllable. "It'll take some careful planning, but I believe we can do it. I think it's time we step things up a notch, help my plan along."

Skulker stared down the hall, wondering what it could possibly be. From the sound of his new master's voice, it wasn't going to be pretty, or easy, and probably went against the few morals that he had left. But, it was sure to be better than the penalty he would receive if he refused.

"Danny will be miserable; we _will_ make sure of it," he threatened, his evil cackle echoing menacingly down the hall through the darkness.

* * *

The bell rang, signaling the end of school. Danny's heart leapt with joy that the day was finally over. He couldn't remember a day lasting so long in all his years as a student. He practically dashed out of his classroom, heading towards his locker. He pulled out the books he'd need to do his homework, talking with Sam and Tucker as Jazz met them.

"Hey Danny, how was school?" she asked.

"Not as bad as I thought, but definitely not like normal."

"Well you can tell me all about it in the car. Let's get out of here."

"I won't argue with that," Danny stated with a smile as they started walking out the door. Danny heard a lot of people shout goodbye to him, but any time he looked he didn't even recognize the person promising to see him the next day. Eventually he just started ignoring them and soon they were at Jazz's car, a parade following behind them.

They crawled into the car without giving the parade a bit of thought, that is until Jazz noticed that they were blocking her path to get out.

"Oh I don't believe this," Jazz remarked as she rolled down her window and stuck her head out. "Hey! Can we get out? I don't know about the rest of you, but we're tired and would really like to go home and get some sleep!"

"You can get out. Make Danny phase the car through us," one of the students in the front demanded.

"You have got to be kidding me," Danny remarked from the back seat. Just when he thought his problems were over…

"This is nuts. They seriously have screws loose in their heads or something," Tucker commented as he stared out at anxious crowd around them.

"That's implying that they at least have something in their head in the first place," Sam stated as she pondered the stupidity of the student population.

"Listen, if you don't get out of our way I'm going to call the police!" Jazz threatened.

"Go ahead. It'll be for a worthy cause," another student shouted.

"Are any of you intelligent at all?" Sam yelled out her window.

"This is getting ridiculous. I'm going to get Lancer," Danny stated as he turned invisible. "Keep them occupied."

"No problem there," Jazz promised as Danny flew out of the car and into the school that he had just joyously left. He flew into Lancer's room and appeared in front of Mr. Lancer's desk, making him jump.

"Sorry Mr. Lancer," Danny apologized.

"Don't worry about it Mr. Fenton. I'm just not used to students appearing out of no where. So what's the matter? I thought you'd left, judging by the fact that you practically ran out of here when the bell rang."

"I had, but the rest of the students won't let us leave the parking lot. They've formed a circle around the car and won't let us leave. They want me to phase the car through them."

"Homer's Odyssey!" Mr. Lancer shouted as he immediately jumped up from his desk and looked out the window, noticing the gathering of students around Jazz's red convertible. "Yes, yes, I should have expected something like this. Alright Mr. Fenton is your sister calling the police?"

"She threatened them with it, but that's about it."

"Alright. Tell her to go ahead and call them."

Danny nodded his head and flew back down to the car. "Jazz, call the police," his disembodied voice whispered in her ear.

"You know, for the record, I hate it when you do that," she remarked as she pulled out her cell and dialed the police. Meanwhile Danny flew back up to Mr. Lancer's room.

"She's calling them right now," he answered as he reappeared, earning another jump from Mr. Lancer, and Principal Ishiyama, who had also joined them. "Principal, I didn't know you were here," Danny greeted awkwardly.

"Good afternoon Mr. Fenton. I'm sorry about the problem. Mr. Lancer and I were just discussing it."

"I think…" Mr. Lancer started to say but drifted off.

"Mr. Lancer?" Danny asked, curious.

"I want to get a record of all the students standing there so I can put them in detention for life. But, Mr. Fenton, I would need to…"

"Be invisible," Danny answered for him, sensing why he was feeling so uncomfortable. Mr. Lancer had only just accepted that ghosts were a part of his daily life, let alone one of his students, and now he was requesting to be turned invisible.

"Yes. Would it be too difficult or awkward to ask…?"

"No problem," Danny answered as he went ghost, to the shocked looks of both Mr. Lancer and the principal. He flew behind Mr. Lancer and placed his arms under his armpits. "Alright, just a few words of warning. Do not lose contact with me, otherwise you'll become visible. Don't talk, because they'll hear you. When you're done, just poke me or something and we'll fly back up here. Also, we're going to be going through the wall, which Sam and Tucker say is really weird and Jazz still doesn't like doing. Ready?"

Lancer nodded his head and braced himself for the experience. Danny lifted him off the ground with ease and turned both of them intangible and invisible and flew through the window, towards the parking lot. They landed and Danny continued to keep one hand on Mr. Lancer's shoulder. He pulled out a video camera and recorded the students. He gestured to Danny to take him up a little higher so he could get everyone and then indicated that he was ready to go back. Danny flew them back into the room, much to the Principal's shock again.

"Well, that was…amazing, to say the least," Mr. Lancer stated as he composed himself. "Well, your teachers and I, with the help of Principal Ishiyama, will try and identify these students as soon as possible. Once they're identified, the worst punishment permitted by school law shall be administered to them."

"We are very sorry for the inconvenience Mr. Fenton," Principal Ishiyama apologized.

"It's not your fault," he responded, though he was glad that someone decided to start taking responsibility for the students' behavior.

He flew back into the car just as the police pulled up. At the sound of the sirens many of the students fled, but a few resolute ones stayed where they were, and were rewarded by being toted off to the police station to await their parents to pick them up.

* * *

They finally arrived at home and Danny walked into the door, welcoming the fact that he was at home, away from school, from people, from the rest of the world.

Upon hearing the front door open his parents rushed up from the basement, smiles on their faces, ready to find out about their son's first day of going to school as the ghost boy.

"Hey sweetie! How was school?" his mother asked as she greeted him with a hug.

"Eh, not as bad as I thought it would be. I got barricaded against my locker by the student body, Mr. Lancer is now my favorite teacher, Mr. Dickens needs to die, Dash tried to shove me in a locker, and we had to call the police to clear a path of students so we could leave the school."

"They did what?" his mother asked angrily.

"You want to kill your teacher?" Jack asked.

"They wouldn't let you out of the school?"

Danny sighed and sat down, regaling his parents with the tale of his day at school and all the events that had happened.

Afterwards Danny went upstairs to his room to actually do his homework, for the first time in a while. He decided to do his math homework first, since he figured that even though he was technically allowed a week in which to do it, Mr. Dickens would be expecting it tomorrow. Danny was determined to show him that he was more than just a ghost, that he was human and could still be as good a regular student as everyone else.

A few hours later, Danny heard the phone ring but didn't even look up from his homework. The phone had been ringing constantly since the revelation and Danny had just gotten used to ignoring it. Anyone important who would want to talk to him would just call his cell.

Maddie, however, still answered the phone, although the caller ID was extremely helpful.

"I'll get it!" Maddie yelled from the kitchen. She looked at the receiver and groaned as she recognized the Wisconsin area code. "Hello," she greeted bluntly.

"Maddie! How are you my dear?"

"Don't even Vlad. I have half a mind to hang up on you. Now what do you want?" she demanded harshly, remembering the time spent at the cabin.

"I would actually like to speak with Daniel, if that's all right."

"Oh no you don't. You probably just saw the news and now want to talk to him. I'm surprised you didn't just fly straight out here. That seems a little more like you. Demanding, trying to weasel your way into the family."

Vlad chuckled. "Well, I assure you that my desire to talk with him is not centered around his newfound popularity, although I must say it was quite a shock to hear. Strangely ironic, don't you think? The Ghost Boy of Amity Park is the son of ghost hunters? The irony just kills me."

"Good-bye Vlad," she dismissed shortly, not liking his tone, or the topic of conversation.

"Maddie wait please, I'm sorry. Look, I just wish to ask him a simple question, that is all. Then I promise I'll leave you alone."

"And if I don't give him the phone?"

"Then I _will_ fly out there."

"Danny! Telephone!"

Danny looked up from his math homework. Who would be calling him on his home phone? Well, practically everyone, but who would be important enough for his mother to mention?

He ran out into the hall and picked up the phone. "I've got it!" he yelled downstairs. "Hello?"

"Daniel, how are you, enjoying your fame?"

Danny growled at the voice, his eyes glowing green. He was about to slam the phone into the base when he heard Vlad's voice call his name again.

"Daniel, I think you'll want to listen, because if you don't, I'll hop on my jet and fly down there the minute I hear the receiver click, and I know you don't want that."

Danny gritted his teeth as he clutched the phone harder, bringing it back up to his ear. "You've got five minutes."

"That's plenty of time. I just wanted to make sure that you'd honor our deal and not tell anyone about me."

"What deal Vlad? The only deal I recall is that if you expose me I expose you and vice versa. So, if I expose you, you can still honor that deal and expose me too, but I doubt it'll do any good," he added as he smiled into the phone.

"Fine, then I'm asking you to please not tell anyone. My reputation would be ruined!"

"And you don't think mine isn't?" he asked.

"Well I think my reputation is a bit larger and more prevalent than yours, so excuse me if I don't see the similarity."

"What do I get out of it? For not telling? What'll you do for me?"

Vlad sighed. "You know Daniel, you're a lot smarter than you look."

"I know. Now, what are you going to do for me?" Danny hadn't really thought about Vlad for the past few days since he'd had other things on his mind, but now that he started thinking about it, he never would tell anyone, because he would be able to use it as blackmail at any moment.

After a few minutes silence, Vlad finally answered Danny's demand. "Alright, I promise to let you win the next battle."

"That's it?" Danny asked. "That's all you're willing to give me in return for my silence? That's not very good. You could just show up for some stupid reason and use that as the battle that you'll let me win. You'll have to do better than that. I mean, exposing you really has no effect on me, so there's really no reason not to expose you, and you know it, otherwise you wouldn't be calling. Now, how about you offer me something real."

"Okay fine," Vlad acquiesced as he continued to think about what he could give Danny in exchange for his silence. Finally he spoke up.

"Well, I've thought of a lot of different things I could offer you, none of which I know you'll accept. So, I've decided to offer you a free favor, to be used whenever you wish. If you ever need my assistance, I'm here to help, no matter what. Of course, I am not daft enough to assist you in trying to stop my own plan, but for anything else this offer stands. Is that acceptable?"

Danny thought about it. He didn't really think he could get much better than that. He didn't really know what kind of offer he expected or the one he was waiting to accept, but this one seemed pretty good.

"No matter what?" Danny asked.

"No matter what."

"So if I asked you to do my homework, you'd do it?"

"Yes."

"And if I asked you to get rid of a ghost that's causing me a lot of trouble, you'd do it?"

"As long as the other ghost isn't me, then yes."

Danny paused, thinking of all the different ways he could use Vlad's assistance. It would definitely be helpful, since he had to admit that Vlad was more powerful, more experienced, and stronger. He could probably find a time when he needed his assistance.

"Can I get it in writing?"

Vlad chuckled. "You don't trust me Daniel?"

"Frankly, no."

Vlad chuckled again. "Smart boy, I taught you well."

"You didn't teach me anything," Danny spit back. "It doesn't take a genius to figure out that you can't be trusted."

"Alright then, meet me in your lab and we'll seal this agreement with a Ghostly Vow."

"What's that?"

"Meet me in the lab in about two minutes and I'll tell you."

Danny heard the click that signaled that Vlad had hung up. He turned around and headed into the basement and stopped when he saw Vlad floating in front of the portal.

"Ah Daniel, glad you could join me."

"Start talking Plasmius," he threatened as he went ghost. "What's a Ghostly Vow?"

"It is an unbreakable vow between two ghosts that cannot be broken. If one breaks the oath, he will lose all his energy."

"He'll be dead?" Danny asked.

"Of course not my boy. Ghosts can't die, but they can be put close to it. See, when a Ghostly Vow is made, there is, a transition of power of sorts. A reflection of my power goes to you, and some of yours goes to me."

"What?" Danny exclaimed. He didn't like the sound of this. He didn't want Vlad's dark power.

"I think you misunderstand. You see, it never outwardly changes the ghosts involved. It's merely that the reflection of the power lies dormant within the ghost, and it cannot be tapped into or used by the ghost storing it. But, if the ghost breaks the vow, that energy awakens. In the betrayer, it consumes their energy until they're left with nothing, and in the betrayed, it transforms into usable power, making them stronger. That is why a Ghostly Vow is considered to be unbreakable, because the consequences are so severe."

Danny gulped, not sure he wanted to do this. If he messed up and let it spill that Vlad was Plasmius, then he would lose all his energy and wander around, almost dead.

"What would it do to a half ghost?"

"I do not know, but I assume it would still be unpleasant. It would either result in the same consequences as it would for a regular ghost or death. Either way, it would be unwise to break the oath, which is how you can tell that I am serious about this. I am quite willing to go through with this."

"I want the right to tell my parents at any time that you start being a jerk or there's no deal."

"What?" Vlad asked, outraged.

"You heard me. I want to be able to tell them or I go right outside and tell everyone you're a ghost right now. I'm sure there are some reporters outside my house or at least nearby."

Vlad looked deep in thought while Danny smiled. He knew that Vlad didn't want his parents to know, especially his mom, because of their hatred for the Wisconsin Ghost as they called him, especially after Danny told them about all the things he'd done to their poor son.

"I'm walking up the stairs," Danny teased as he slowly turned around and started walking, pushing Vlad to make up his mind quickly. That way he'd have less time to think about the consequences of his actions, and the less time Vlad spent thinking, the better.

"Wait!" Vlad cried.

"Vlad, all I'm asking for is the chance to be able to tell my parents about you if you decide to start doing something stupid."

"You mean you wish to use it as leverage over me."

"Pretty much. But it's that or I tell everyone right now, including my parents," Danny argued with a smirk.

"Alright," Vlad conceded, knowing he was cornered.

"So, how do we do this Ghostly Vow thing?"

"We hold each other's hand, state our names, speak our terms, and then we both say 'Agreed'."

"And then what?"

"And then the pact is sealed."

"How?"

"I don't know, I've only heard about it. I've never actually done it with another ghost or seen it for that matter. Now are you ready or not?"

"Yeah. Let's do this."

Danny headed over to Vlad and they stood across from each other, holding the other's hand in a grip.

"I, Vlad Masters/Plasmius, wish to enter a Ghostly Vow with Daniel Fenton/Phantom," Vlad stated as his hand started to glow dark pink. He gestured for Danny to repeat him.

"I, Daniel Fenton/Phantom, wish to enter a Ghostly Vow with Vlad Masters/Plasmius," he repeated as his hand started glowing green. Then Vlad indicated that he should state his terms. "I, Daniel Fenton/Phantom, will not tell anyone that Vlad Masters/Plasmius is a half-ghost, save for my parents." The glowing green expanded, encasing his entire body. Both he and Vlad looked surprised, having no idea as to what would happen.

"And in return, I, Vlad Masters/Plasmius, owe Daniel Fenton/Phantom one favor, to be used at any time and for any purpose save stopping my own plans." The glowing pink surrounded him as well.

"Agreed," Danny stated.

"Agreed."

The glow increased as the two of them were lifted off the ground. They both jerked their heads back as a bright orb of light emerged from their chests, one green, one dark pink. They floated in between the two of them and then inserted themselves into the other as a bright white light emanated from their hands, expanding through the room.

Danny felt his hand jerk away from Vlad's and he went flying across the room. He hit the wall and fell down, the white rings transforming him back to his human form.

* * *

A/N: So I know you were all looking forward to another day of school and I had every intention of putting it in, but like I said, it was getting way too long. But anywho, this was one of those necessary chapters that held a bridge and important parts to the plot. Hope you all enjoyed it and sorry again for the wait!


	11. Bully Problems

A/N: Alright, really short authors note because I should have left for class like, five minutes ago. I'm am so extremely and terribly sorry for the long delay! I feel absolutely horrible! So, as an offering of peace, I've made this my longest chapter ever, one page in word for every day this was late (which is 20 pages). I hope this makes up the long wait!

Also, I'm planning on changing my screen name sometime in the near future to Darth Frodo - Chosen Wielder of the Keyblade, just so you all know. It may not happen for awhile, but I just wanted to get the word out there.

* * *

Chapter Eleven  
Bully Problems

Danny awoke and looked around in awe, seeing that he was in his bedroom. Wasn't he just in the lab, forging that weird Ghostly Vow with Vlad? He saw sunshine creeping in through the breaks in his new blinds. Wasn't it around dusk when Vlad called? What happened?

He heard the door open and saw his sister walk in. "Oh thank God you're awake! Mom, Dad, he's awake!" she yelled out the door before rushing to his bed.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Mom and Dad went into the lab and found you knocked out on the floor. They brought you up here and you've been asleep ever since."

"What time is it?"

"You normally wake up for school in about fifteen minutes."

"It's the next day already?" he asked as he sat up in bed.

"Yeah, Danny what…"

"Danny! Oh you're all right!" his mother gushed as she ran over to him, giving him a hug.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"What happened?" his father asked.

"Oh, I was fighting this ghost and he had this ability to…put people to sleep. I was doing a good job of fighting him off, until the end. As I was sucking him into the thermos he shot me with the sleep power as a sort of last hurrah. I guess then I just fell asleep on the floor."

"Are you sure you're all right?" his mother asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Alright, well I'll go make you some breakfast while you get ready for school."

They all left his room and Danny stood up, ready to get in the shower. As he changed out of his clothes he saw a piece of paper fall out of his pocket. He opened it and read the single line on the paper.

_Call me when you wake up. –Vlad_

Danny immediately grabbed the phone and dialed the number.

"Daniel? Are you awake?"

"No Vlad, I'm dialing your number in my sleep. Now what happened?" he asked in an accusatory voice.

"I think the transfer of energy left us weakened and we both passed out afterwards. I woke up before you did and left, and then I went back to sleep. But I've done some research and this is quite normal. Everything should be back to normal now."

"If it's not I'm so coming after you, and we don't need to do another Ghostly Vow for you to know that I'm not joking."

"There shouldn't be anything wrong. Everything else should be normal, well normal for us at least. But call me if anything weird happens and I'll do the same."

"Fine," he responded as he hung up, blaming Vlad for all of this. If he didn't want to do that stupid Ghostly Vow in the first place none of that would have happened. He would have been just as happy doing it in writing. Now they had some weird exchange of powers that might lead to some unfortunate consequences and not only that, but he slept his free time away so now he had to go back to school again, and it felt like he'd just left it! The next time he saw him, he was going to kill him.

"Danny, are you alright in there? I thought I heard you talking," Jazz questioned from outside his door.

"Well, I've been grumbling a little bit about sleeping all night and not getting any free time, but that's about it." He didn't think he needed to worry Jazz about this unless something bad happened. She'd probably lecture him for at least an hour about making this deal with Vlad even though they both knew how tricky and devious he could be.

"Oh, alright. Get into the shower or you're going to be late!"

"Alright, alright."

After spending time getting ready for his fun-filled second day of school he headed downstairs to quickly eat some breakfast before heading to school. When he went downstairs, he heard his parents arguing in the basement. He went down to the basement and stopped at the foot of the stairs, the room a complete mess.

"I could swear it was right here!" Jack complained as he continued throwing inventions around.

"You might have misplaced it," Maddie remarked as she too moved inventions around, obviously looking for something. "I mean, let's admit it Jack, you're not the most organized of people."

"I know I'm not, but I just saw this yesterday!"

"What's going on?" Danny asked.

"Oh, you're father and I can't seem to find the portable ghost shield we've been working on. It was here yesterday, but when we went downstairs and found you lying on the floor we noticed that it was missing."

"I didn't do it," Danny stated quickly.

"Oh we know you didn't sweetie. We weren't blaming you, we were just remarking that it went missing while you were asleep."

"Vlad."

"What?"

"Oh nothing, I need to get to school. See you later!"

"Alright sweetheart. Have a fun day!"

"Thanks!" he yelled as he headed up the stairs. So, there was more to Vlad's story than he told him over the phone. After he woke up he decided to steal the portable ghost portal before he left. He was so talking to him after school.

He grabbed a pop-tart as he and Jazz headed out to the car, picking Tucker and Sam up along the way. Through the car ride he was lost deep in thought. He felt totally fine and didn't think there was anything wrong, so maybe nothing bad had happened after all. Maybe Vlad was actually telling the truth for once, though it did seem a little suspicious that Vlad woke up so soon while it took him so long to wake up at all. And he failed to mention that he stole the ghost portal, so it was entirely conceivable that he failed to mention something else.

"Danny, are you okay?" Sam asked from the backseat, seeing his far-off look.

"Yeah, of course. Why does everyone keep asking me that?"

Sam gave him a stern look and Danny returned the look, gesturing slightly towards Jazz, whose attention was focused on the road, indicating to her that he'd tell her later when Jazz wasn't around.

They finally arrived at the school. This time, to Danny's great horror, he noticed that the parking lot was full of cops, and some reporters. Obviously they were depressed that they didn't get the previous day's events on film and decided to make up for it today.

As they stepped out of their car to the flashing of cameras, a few officers walked up to them.

"Mr. Fenton, we've been called in by the Principal to assist you in dealing with the other students. Do you require us to escort you to class?" one of them asked.

"Um, no, I should be fine thanks. Just, if you see a large queue forming around me and not allowing me to go somewhere, then you can intervene."

They nodded and backed off, leaving Danny feeling weird. Police men to escort him? And he thought he'd seen it all.

The four of them walked to their lockers, Jazz saying her goodbyes and wishing him luck as she walked over to her giggling friends, whom she reprimanded for being foolish. Danny smiled in spite of himself. Her friends had always thought of him as such a loser, and now they were giggling about him behind his back.

"So, what happened last night? We called your house and your mom said you'd fallen asleep in the lab and still hadn't woken up."

"I'll tell you at lunch. It's too long of a story to relay to you now."

As they began pulling their books out of their locker, talking about how the day might possibly run, Danny felt himself being jerked up by the collar and felt the familiar brush of metal hit his body as he was shoved into the locker. He heard Dash and his friends laughing from outside as everything became black, indicating that Dash had shut the locker door.

Danny sighed and turned intangible, floating out of the locker, a smug look on his face. Dash simply looked dumbstruck as Danny landed on the floor and turned tangible again with a triumphant smile plastered across his face. Dash just turned around with a growl and marched off, pouting.

"Well, that was interesting," Sam commented.

"What do you think the purpose of that was?" Tucker asked.

"Keep the tradition going, try to regain some of his pride and credibility, who knows," Danny answered as he pulled his books out of the locker and shut the door, heading off to class.

Danny, Tucker, and Sam walked to Mr. Lancer's class, finding it a lot easier to get there today. Obviously the actions of the police yesterday and their presence today calmed them down a bit. The rest of the class was already sitting there, like they were yesterday, and they all waved at Danny, pretending like he was their best friend. He also noticed with a jolt that they'd spread themselves out so their usual spot of three seats was occupied, and there was no other grouping of three. The class was getting smarter; they were going to force him to sit next to them.

Danny lingered in the doorway, not quite sure what to do. He was just about to try to ask them to move, even though he knew they wouldn't when he heard a voice from behind him.

"Is there any reason why the three of you are blocking the door?" Mr. Lancer asked as he attempted to enter his classroom. The three of them parted the way and as he walked in he noticed the problem. "Alright, I want this problem fixed in the next thirty seconds or I will assign each one of you a seat effective for the rest of the year, and I know you don't want that," he threatened.

The students blocking their seats sprang up and filled in other seats, much to Paulina and many of the other student's disappointment. Danny, Tucker, and Sam resumed their regular seats and Danny mouthed a "Thank you" to Mr. Lancer who smiled in return.

Mr. Lancer then started his boring lecture, but Danny was one of the few who stayed awake. He didn't intend to fall asleep in Lancer's classes ever again after everything that had happened. He figured he at least owed him that much for everything he'd done.

While Lancer was outlining the path of a Nasty Burger down the digestive track, complete with extremely detailed descriptions of what exactly happened to the "blob of grease and fat that they have the nerve to call a hamburger" Danny snapped to attention as his ghost sense went off. Mr. Lancer heard the gasp and stopped detailing the stomach's exploits of digesting the burger and turned to face Danny, as well as the rest of the class who seemed to now be wide awake.

"Danny, what was that?" Paulina asked coquettishly as she leaned forward on her desk.

"That was my…"

The door burst open. "Hey, this isn't the computer lab!" the nasally voice complained as he stood in the doorway.

"…Ghost Sense," Danny finished as the ghost flew into the room, his black coat floating behind him.

The ghost surveyed the room and he stopped as his eyes spotted Danny. "Oh no, what are the odds that out of all the possible rooms in this school I had to pick the one with you in it!"

"Obviously pretty good," Danny remarked as he stood up defensively. The white rings formed around his waist and transformed him into Danny Phantom. Squeals of delight circled around the room and Danny sighed.

"So the rumors are true. You have been exposed Ghost Child."

"Really? I hadn't noticed," Danny smarted back. "Is that why you're here? To test the rumors?"

"No, for I, Technus, have no care in the daily sufferings of your pathetic half life. I am here to place all the school computers under my control and augment files and information so it suits my plan to take over the…I'm doing it again, aren't I?"

"Yeah. I thought you'd gotten better?"

"So did I."

"Guess all that therapy didn't pay off then, huh?"

"No I guess it…hey! Who told you about that?"

"One good thing about the Box Ghost: he has a really big mouth."

"That does it. Change in plans. I'm going to take care of you and _then_ I'll take over the computers!"

"Sure you will."

Technus raised his arms into the air as calculators, cell phones, and iPods flew into the air surrounding him. "Surrender now Ghost Boy or be demolished by my army of electrical devices!"

Danny smirked and turned intangible.

"Fool! That will no longer work, for I, Technus, have upgraded and now these shall go hit you even if you are intangible!"

"Really?" Danny asked as he turned tangible. "Thanks for the heads up."

Technus growled and threw his hand forward, signaling the charge. The electronics glowed green and shot at Danny, who flew up, dodging them. They turned upwards and started following him as he flew around the room, dodging as many as he could but being hit by a lot as well. It was almost impossible to continue dodging them all. Every student in the room had a cell and a calculator and the majority of them had iPods, which meant there were about fifty different devices flying about the room at any moment, all charging at him. Meanwhile Technus left the room in satisfaction. Danny tried to follow Technus out of the room, but the electronics blocked him path.

Finally he had enough. "Everyone get under a desk!" he commanded as he made up his mind. There was no way he could continue to save the electronics and stop Technus. This was not going to help his credibility at all.

"Why should we do that?" Dash asked.

"Because I'm not necessarily the best aim! Now do it!" Danny threatened as he held his glowing hands up and shot an ecto-blast at a small group of electronics.

"Hey, that was my iPod!" Star yelled as she stood up from under the desk and got hit in the arm with a speeding cell phone. "Ow!"

"Stay under the desk!" Danny yelled again and Star quickly returned to her safety spot, cradling her arm.

"Danny, just not the PDA!" Tucker yelled.

"Oh you've got to be kidding…" he started to protest as he was hit in the back of the head with said PDA. "Ow! Oh, that thing is so going down."

"No! I've only got one more payment on that…one," Tucker finished sadly as Danny blasted the PDA.

"Don't worry Tucker, we'll buy you a new one," Sam comforted.

"Yeah, just like you did last week, and the week before that."

"Well, it's for a noble cause."

Finally Danny had blasted away enough of the devices for him to fly out the room towards the computer room, where he assumed Technus was. Tucker and Sam jumped up and followed Danny out as Sam grabbed the thermos from Danny's bag. The rest of the students slowly emerged from under their desks and looked warily at the room around them and then at the hallway. A few exchanged glances before running out of the room and following the lagging electrical devices down the hall.

Mr. Lancer stood up and looked at his dismantled and now empty classroom. What were his students thinking, chasing after a dangerous ghost like that? They'd become far too conditioned to these ghost attacks and didn't know how to properly fear them anymore. And he was sure that their admiration of Danny didn't help either. Mr. Lancer headed towards the door and rushed down the hall, following his students. Someone had to protect them from their own stupidity.

Danny found Technus in the computer lab, hooking himself up to the central hub that fed all the computers. He blasted him away from the computer and an angry Technus floated back up and turned to face Danny.

"You're too late Ghost Child! At this moment my program is changing all the files in this computer which will affect every other computer connected to it, and there's no way to stop it!"

"I can think of one." Danny cupped both his hands together and shot a large ecto-blast at the computer, completely demolishing it, it's only remains a small charred base.

Technus stared from Danny to the computer in sacrilegious disbelief as he stuttered incoherently. "Ha-have you been studying computers?" Technus finally managed to sputter angrily.

"Since I met you, yeah. At least enough to know that a program can't run without a computer."

"Seriously Technus, it's not that hard," Sam remarked.

"I know, anyone could figure that out, even Danny," Tucker added.

"Hey, I resent that. I figured it out this time instead of just waiting for Technus to shut out the solution like usual."

"Hey, now I resent that. I may do it occasionally, but I would never scream out for you to destroy the computer! It's an unholy act and…"

Danny took the opportunity to suck Technus into the thermos as he was distracted with thoughts of destroying computers.

"You know, you could have distracted him without insulting me," Danny told Tucker as he turned to face him.

"Yeah, just like you could have unplugged the computer instead of destroying it."

Danny blushed. "Well, I didn't think that unplugging it would do anything. Who knows, it might have just started up again when we turned it back on."

"And that's the sign that you still have a lot to learn about computers."

"Um guys?" Sam interrupted.

"What?" Danny asked as he turned around to face her and noticed the student audience assembled around the door to the computer lab. Danny laughed nervously as he floated back down to the ground. "Um, why don't we…get back to class," he suggested as the white rings transformed him back into his human form.

"Ah, an excellent idea," Mr. Lancer agreed from the back of the group. "Everyone back to the classroom. We still have much to cover today and I will not let some ghost attack cut my lesson plans short."

He walked out of the classroom and some of the class followed him, but most of them rushed towards Danny.

"Danny, that was amazing!"

"You saved us from that ghost!"

"That was incredible!"

"Um, thanks, but…we need to get to class." He shoved himself through and started walking quickly towards the classroom as they followed behind him, complimenting him on his ghost fighting skills and drooling over the use of his powers.

He entered the classroom and quickly sat down as the students continued to pester him. He looked up at Mr. Lancer, his eyes pleading him to start the lecture. Mr. Lancer nodded his head.

"Alright, let's continue our discussion of the digestive track. We left off with the large ball of grease that you claim to be a hamburger as the acid in the stomach was attempting to digest it."

* * *

Once the bell rang to signal the end of class Danny grabbed his stuff and ran out of the room before he could be cornered again. Things were going so well all day. People weren't being overly obsessive or bothersome and he didn't have much trouble getting to class. Then the ghost attacked and he had to "show off" which started everything over again. The next time he saw Technus there would be no mercy.

He ran to his locker, grabbed his books, and ran off to math. He wasn't looking forward to spending more time with his horrible teacher any longer than he had to, but right now it was better than the throng of students heading towards him. Word obviously had gotten around of his "daring" fight with Technus.

Unfortunately, math didn't provide much relief for him. As soon as the rest of the class entered the room they huddled around him, continuously asking him questions about Technus and the battle.

"You seemed like you knew him really well. Have you fought him before?"

"Do you fight him often?"

"Is he hard to fight?"

"Does he always shout out his plans like that?"

Danny shut his eyes to try to block out the sounds, but to no avail. He just couldn't take it anymore. "Argh, will you guys just be quiet already!" Danny yelled in frustration as his eyes flashed green. "Look, let's get one thing straight. I fight ghosts, at least once a day, and I'll probably be fighting them for the rest of my high school career. And you guys, obsessing over every ghost battle, asking me constant questions about it, it's just not going to work and it's already gotten old. So, for my sanity, can we please just treat ghost battles like nothing special and get on with our lives?"

The other students looked at each other and then back at Danny.

"Alright, having said that, I'll humor you briefly. See, there's a rhythm to these things. My ghost sense goes off signaling there's a ghost, I go fight him, we talk, exchange witty banter, I kick his butt, and then I suck him into the thermos. That's about it. Nothing glorious, nothing special, got it?"

Some of the students felt satisfied and sat down, while others still seemed like they wanted to ask him questions, but sat down anyways.

"Nice one Danny," Sam remarked.

"Yeah, that shut them up."

"Yeah, and a good thing too. I think I was about to go nuts."

Then Mr. Dickens entered the room with a special glare for Danny, who glared back. Obviously their conversation after school did absolutely nothing, because it seemed like he still hated him.

"Alright class, let's stop fussing over our new celebrity and get to work," Mr. Dickens instructed as he opened his book. "Now, would everyone please get out their homework," he added with a smirk.

The shuffling of papers was heard and Danny, with a triumphant smile on his face, pulled out his completed homework. This would wipe that smirk of his teacher's face.

"Now, Mr. Fenton, would you care to read off the answer to the number twelve?"

"Of course. X equals plus or minus five."

Mr. Dickens stared at him, his smile faltering for a brief second, to Danny's great satisfaction. He walked over to Danny's desk. "Let me see your homework." Danny handed it over proudly and smiled at Tucker and Sam as Mr. Dickens looked over his paper.

"You do know, Mr. Fenton, that copying off another person's homework is cheating, even if you are a ghost."

"What? I didn't copy! Ask my sister or my parents, I spent all afternoon in my room doing my own homework!"

"Do not lie to me Mr. Fenton. Thankfully for you I will let it slide for today since you probably figured you are now above school laws, but continue to keep this up and I will be talking to your parents."

"Good, maybe then they could talk some sense into you," Danny muttered.

"What did you say Mr. Fenton?"

"Nothing."

"That's what I thought. Now, let's continue to go over the homework."

Mr. Dickens didn't call on Danny for the rest of the homework problems, but he did give him his share of evil looks and occasionally made references to example human students who didn't cheat and how Danny should try to act more like them, more human.

"Alright, and now I have some bad news. Thanks to our young 'hero' none of you have calculators for today's pop quiz. That's too bad, because they really would be helpful right about now."

The entire class groaned and some gave Danny an evil look. Danny meanwhile was furious. There was no reason that he needed to do this, and he probably just made the quiz up right after he heard about the destruction of the calculators, just to make Danny mad. Well, it sure was working.

"Mr. Dickens, aren't there general calculators that can be loaned to the students?" Valerie asked.

"No, not at the moment. They're all being updated with new programs."

That was a lie, and judging by the looks of disbelief on half the class' faces, they knew it was too, and they weren't happy.

"Now, take out a blank sheet of paper. I'm going to write the problems on the board and you need only to answer them on the paper. You need not show any work, so if you were fortunate enough not to be in class with Mr. Fenton this morning, you can calculate the answer straight off the calculator. For the rest of you, good luck and hope that you can do well enough on the other tests and quizzes to bring your grade up after this one."

He walked to the board and began writing immensely complex problems on the board with calculations that involved long and detailed multiplication and even longer division, not to mention problems involving sine and cosine for angles that could only be calculated with a calculator.

"Mr. Dickens, couldn't you use nicer numbers that are easy to calculate since we don't all have our calculators?" Valerie asked.

"No, because these numbers were chosen so that you learn how to do these problems without the benefit of easy numbers. You won't always be given nice easy numbers."

"Yes, and we can do those in our homework or maybe another quiz, but since the methods are the same regardless of whether the problem can be done with nice numbers of not, why can't we use those for this quiz?"

"I already explained my reasoning for that Ms. Manson."

"Well, you're reasoning is bogus. You just want to punish Danny for saving the day because you've got a grudge against him!" Many of the students murmured in agreement.

"Detention Ms. Manson, and this time, I'll make sure you don't get out of it."

"Fine with me. See if I care."

"Enough of this. You have fifteen minutes to take this quiz with the numbers and problems the way they are. Talk and you will receive an automatic zero. Begin."

This was impossible. There was no way they could finish all those problems in fifteen minutes without a calculator. Danny started rushing through his quiz, but finding himself forced to stop because he was unable to calculate the number needed to proceed.

Then, an idea struck him. It would require him to leave the room, but he probably wasn't going to do much better on the quiz sitting in the class than leaving it.

He raised his hand. "Mr. Dickens, I need to leave."

"We're taking a quiz Mr. Fenton. I cannot permit you to leave."

"But the new policy states that if I need to leave, you have to let me. Would you like me to get the Principal or Mr. Lancer to verify it?"

"Fine Mr. Fenton. You may leave, but you won't receive any more time to take this quiz."

"Fine with me," he answered as he ran out of the classroom. He burst into the math office, to the surprise of the teachers in there. "Sorry," he apologized. "We're taking a quiz in math and none of us have calculators. I was wondering if we could borrow some."

"You mean they were broken, right?" the teacher asked.

Danny blushed. "Has everyone heard that story?'

The teacher smiled. "Don't worry, you may. There's a bucket of some over there."

"Thank you." He grabbed the box and ran back to the classroom. As he entered the door to the classroom, eyes turned towards him, wondering what ghost he had to fight that time. When they saw the bucket of calculators in his hands, their faces brightened.

"Mr. Fenton, what is that?"

"Well, the Box Ghost was harassing the teachers in the math office. After I captured him I asked the teachers if they happened to have any calculators and they handed me this large bucket of them. Didn't seem to be any problem with them after all. Isn't that good news?"

"Extremely," Mr. Dickens answered through gritted teeth.

Danny started passing out the calculators and it seemed like the students gazed at him with more admiration than before, which Danny thought was impossible. They easily finished their quizzes with the aid of the calculators and class continued on with a very unhappy math teacher.

* * *

Danny, Tucker, and Sam sat at their usual table at lunch, after being asked by many people to join their tables. Surprisingly though, they were generally left alone, save for the occasional person asking a question or wanting an autograph, to which Danny found extremely unsettling.

"Man, if I would have known that my autograph was so popular I would have started signing all sorts of paper and selling them on Ebay," Danny remarked as he signed yet another piece of paper. "Do you know how much money we could have if we had done that?"

"Well, it's not too late. Set up fake accounts, make people believe that we don't know you, and I'm sure we could sell them like nobody's business," Tucker remarked. "Then I could have enough money to buy another PDA since you destroyed mine."

"God Tucker, can't you just let it go? I've already said I'm sorry."

"He's just trying to be a jerk Danny, don't mind him," Sam comforted as she gave Tucker an evil look. "I offered to buy him another one."

"But that one was special."

"Sure it was."

"So, what happened last night?" Sam asked.

Danny sighed and relayed the previous night's events. Sam looked like she wanted to interrupt him multiple times, but he told her to wait until afterwards. Then she could just get all the yelling out at once. When he finished, Sam and Tucker looked at him in disbelief.

"You have got to be the stupidest person in the world!" Sam yelled.

"Will you keep it down?" Danny asked as people stared at their table. "I get enough attention as it is without you making a scene."

"Danny, do you realize what you did?"

"Not really."

"Do you have any common sense in that brain of yours? Making a deal with Vlad? Making an unbreakable vow that will put you as close to death as possible if you break it? You seriously cannot be that stupid."

"Listen, you weren't there, all right. It seemed legit and Vlad looked just as nervous about doing it as I did."

"Why can't you just do it in writing?" Tucker asked. "I mean, did it _have_ to be some weird exchange of powers?"

"Vlad wouldn't have it any other way."

"Which should have been the first clue that there was something wrong!" Sam yelled.

"Look, so far nothing's happened. I mean, I'm just as worried about this as you are. Believe me, I didn't want to do it in the first place, but I didn't have a choice. So will you guys stop lecturing me on how stupid I was and help me calm me down and give me that 'we can handle anything' speech?"

"Sorry," Sam apologized.

"Yeah, sorry Danny. "Don't worry, we won't let anything strange happen."

"Yeah, and if Vlad tries to pull something, then we'll expose him, because that's not against your vow."

"Thanks guys. Now, can we talk about something different, like…"

"Hey Ghost Boy!"

Danny turned around and saw Dash over at the table next to theirs laughing.

"Ha! He actually responds to it! I can't believe he actually responds to it! What else can we call him that he might respond to? Invisobil? Halfie? Freak?"

"Leave him alone," Sam threatened.

"Ooh, look at the little Goth Bird, sticking up for her half dead boyfriend."

"He/she's not my girlfriend/boyfriend!" Danny and Sam both shouted.

"Hey, wouldn't it be considered necrophilia if you dated him, since Danny's dead and all?"

Danny's eyes glowed green as he leapt up and headed towards Dash, an ecto-blast formed in his hand. Tucker jumped up and grabbed Danny's arm, which caused the ecto-blast Danny had just shot to fly over Dash's shoulder. Dash looked fearful as Tucker tried to hold Danny back, preventing him from actually hitting his target. But he forgot about Sam. In a blur of black and purple Sam rushed past them and tackled Dash to the floor, punching him in any spot she could find.

"Let me go Tucker."

"No way Danny. You could actually kill him."

"That's the point," he answered as he started walking towards Dash, dragging Tucker across the ground. Tucker dug his heels into the ground, but to no avail.

"Danny, you don't want to do this!" Tucker begged as he continued to be dragged helplessly across the ground while Sam continued to beat Dash, hitting anyone who so much as tried to come near them and stop her.

"What's going on?" Mr. Lancer asked as he heard the commotion outside and saw Sam on top of Dash, beating him black and blue, and Tucker attempting to hold back the angry Danny.

"Tale of Two Cities what happened here? Ms. Manson, desist this instant!" He ran over and started pulling Sam off of Dash, who came unwillingly, giving Dash the evilest of glares, a glare she usually only reserved for Vlad or Paulina.

"You crazy psycho!" Dash yelled as he started to back away from her. Sam tried to struggle out of Mr. Lancer's hold, but he held her tightly.

"Mr. Baxter, head to the room across from mine and stay there. Ms. Manson, Mr. Foley, Mr. Fenton, follow me."

He led them back to his room and sat them down in front of the desk.

"What in the world just happened out there?" he asked.

"Dash started making fun of Danny," Tucker, the only calm one, explained. "He started teasing them with the usual boyfriend girlfriend comments, but then…

"Then he said that it would be considered necrophilia if we ever dated because Danny's dead!" Sam yelled.

Lancer jerked forward in his desk. "Little Women! He said what?"

"He said that…"

"I know what he said. That was a rhetorical question. I'll be right back."

Mr. Lancer left the room. The three of them heard Mr. Lancer's loud voice from across the hall as he yelled at Dash.

"Hey, thanks for stopping me Tucker," Danny thanked.

"No problem. As much as I wanted to see you totally beat the crap out of him, I didn't think it would help your reputation if Danny Phantom murdered the quarterback of the Casper High football team."

"Yeah, probably not."

"And thanks for not stopping me," Sam thanked in return.

Tucker paused. "Was that sarcasm?" he asked hesitantly.

"Nope. If you had tried to stop me Dash wouldn't have been the only student murdered."

"Oh, good, I think."

Mr. Lancer walked into the room, his face red from yelling at Dash. "Alright, I think I've gotten things sorted out. Mr. Baxter has been assigned detention every day until he learns his lesson, which I'm afraid may be a long time coming. But, I think I drilled into him that if he doesn't start behaving there will be more serious consequences. I do hope that will help and that he'll stop these rude comments."

"Thank you Mr. Lancer."

"And I feel I must apologize again to both of you for his actions."

"Don't worry about it. I should have expected something like this."

"Well that's the thing, you shouldn't have to. Now, I believe there are still a few minutes left of lunch and I'd hate to keep you in here again like I did all day yesterday, so you are excused."

"Thanks Mr. Lancer," the three of them thanked as they headed out the door.

"Oh, Mr. Lancer, I think you may need to talk to Mr. Dickens again today."

Mr. Lancer sighed. "Yes, I figured I would. Believe me, I've heard of the calculator incident. It's already on my list of things to do after school's out."

Danny smiled and headed after his friends, cherishing the rest of their lunch hour before their next class.

* * *

Danny stood at his locker, placing his books in for the last time that day with great joy. Like yesterday, he just wanted to get home. The school days just seemed so long and tiring, like they drained all his energy and patience.

"I'm so glad today's over. I'm so ready to go home," Danny stated.

"Here here. It's a good thing Mr. Lancer got me out of detention again," Sam remarked.

"Detention again?" Jazz asked as she walked towards them.

"Yeah. I'm sure you've heard the story of the destroyed calculators."

"Oh, yeah."

"I got detention for sticking up for Danny and calling the teacher a biased jerk."

"Really?"

"Well, not in so many words."

Then Danny felt a tug at the back of his t-shirt as he was lifted off the ground and again saw the inside of the locker. As the door of his locker slammed shut he heard another three doors shut as well and heard shouts of protest from his two friends and his sister.

"Dash, isn't this getting a little ridiculous?" Danny asked from inside the locker, sounding exasperated. "We've already demonstrated that this does absolutely nothing since I can just walk right out, so how about we just stop? There's no point in continuously humiliating yourself."

"That's what you think," Dash remarked as Danny heard the click of a button. On the outside the locker glowed green before dying back down to nothing. Danny turned intangible and tried to phase through the bottom of the locker, but couldn't. Instead he felt a shock surge through his body as he gasped in both pain and surprise.

"See Fenton, I think I finally found a way to actually shove you into a locker by your definition. You said the point was to prevent the person from getting out, and I did."

"What did you do?" he asked angrily, the bright green of his eyes lighting up the inside of the locker.

"Portable ghost shield, and, since you're a ghost, you can't get out!"

"You've got to be kidding me!" Sam yelled from her locker.

"Wait, _you_ stole it from my parent's basement!" Danny accused.

"Yup. I figured it could be put to a much better use, and look, it is! And you were right Danny, making sure the person can't leave doesn't take the kick out of it. It makes it feel a lot better."

"You jerk! I've saved your life! Don't you remember the time one of my dad's inventions shrunk us? I saved your life from Skulker, and this is how you repay me?"

Dash paused and turned slowly, like he was actually taking what Danny said into consideration. "Yeah Fenton, but you want to know something? You save us out of your own stupid hero-complex, not expecting anything back, so why should I give it to you? If there were a ghost attack right now you'd still save me, even though I just stuck you in your locker, because that's just the way you are."

"Actually Dash, I wouldn't because I can't seem to get out of my locker to save you because some idiot decided to put a ghost shield around it!"

"Well, not my problem. Let's see the amazing Danny Phantom and his friends find a way out of this one!"

Danny heard Dash's laugh trail away as he walked away from the lockers as the halls were silent. There was no one there.

* * *


	12. Explosive Possibilities

A/N: Again, millions upon millions of apologies on why this wasn't posted sooner. Writer's block is a pain, but it's a miracle at what forbidding yourself from Kingdom Hearts II can do.

So I hope you don't find this chapter a little dry, but it holds a lot of important information necessary for the plot. I tried to make it as fun as possible though. Next chapter, however, will have the goods. A lot of action, a lot of plot advancement, and a lot of revenge. It'll be great!

As always, thank you so much to my loyal reviewers. You guys rock! And I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Chapter Twelve  
Explosive Possibilities

"Stupid cell phones," Sam complained as she tried for the millionth time to call Danny's house. "They never get service where you need them."

"Hey, don't insult the technology!" Tucker yelled. "It's not their fault that their signal can't penetrate through the metal of the locker."

"No, cell phones just suck. I mean, they barely get service in the school when you're _not_ shoved into a locker."

"It's not the cell phone's fault!" Tucker argued vehemently while he too tried to get service from his cell.

"Fine! Stupid cell phone companies then!"

"Now you can complain about them freely."

"Alright, someone's bound to notice that we're not home by now," Danny remarked after losing track of how much time he'd spent in his locker.

"Unless your parents think we're fighting ghosts," Sam remarked.

"Oh yeah, didn't think about that."

"Alright, the important thing is that we just need to keep talking. There's bound to be someone who'll walk past us, like the janitors or another teacher or something," Jazz suggested.

"I don't think that's a problem. It's not like we have anything else to do," Danny pointed out.

"It's a pity none of us are claustrophobic," Sam remarked.

"Don't you mean it's a good thing?" Tucker asked.

"No, it's a bad thing, because if one of us were claustrophobic we'd go into shock and have a right to sue the crap out of Dash for doing this to us!"

"Here's an idea, let's devise a suitable revenge for him once we get out of here," Tucker suggested.

"Murder," Sam nominated.

"Alright, I was thinking of something that didn't involve us going to prison."

"I agree with Sam," Danny voted.

"Sam, Danny, if I wanted to be put inside a box with limited movement I'd just as soon as stay in the locker. At least then I wouldn't have a roommate who might want to kill me."

"Should we really be thinking about revenge? Shouldn't we just leave it up to the police and the school?" Jazz suggested.

"No," Sam, Danny, and Tucker all answered.

"Jazz, don't make me hurt you," Danny remarked.

"But still, you might get into serious trouble depending on what you do, and I'm not talking about…"

"Quiet!" Danny ordered. "I think I hear something." Danny leaned as close as he could to the side of the locker without directly touching it. He heard a gentle clapping across the floor that sounded a lot like footprints…

"Somebody's coming! Quick everyone, start yelling!"

The three of them started yelling for help while Danny continued to listen for the footsteps. They got louder, like the person was approaching them.

"Keep yelling! I think they heard us!"

Danny heard the footsteps coming closer. When he heard them just outside the lockers, they stopped, and then started up again, but this time getting quieter.

"No, wait! Don't leave!" Danny yelled as sound of the echoing footsteps disappeared. "Please come back!"

"Maybe he's getting help?" Jazz suggested.

"Without even asking how we got here or what was the problem? Doubtful. They just don't care," Sam replied bitterly.

"But why wouldn't he help?" Danny asked.

"Maybe it was just Dash walking past to see our suffering again," Tucker suggested.

"No, if it were Dash his shoes would have made a squeaking noise. This was more of a clapping."

"Could have been a photographer or reporter, getting a tip from Dash or something."

"They would have rather opened the door, then they would have gotten a picture of me actually shoved inside my locker."

"Speaking of the press, and I know this sounds really bad, but haven't they noticed that you never came out of school? I mean, you think they'd be on top of that sort of thing," Tucker added.

"Not unless they think Danny just flew home while invisible," Jazz suggested.

"Man, why are there so many excuses for why I'm missing?" Danny asked angrily.

"Yeah, why didn't we have all these excuses _before_ everyone found out your secret? It would have made things a lot easier," Sam complained.

"Because that would just be too easy," Danny lamented.

Then Danny heard more footsteps. These sounded louder, and quicker.

"More footsteps!" Danny yelled. "Hey, out there! Please help us! We're stuck in our lockers!"

The sound of the footsteps picked up their pace and stopped outside of the lockers.

"Lord of the Rings! Why are you in your locker Mr. Fenton?"

"Mr. Lancer? I don't think I've ever been so happy to hear your voice."

"What are you doing in here?"

"Dash shoved us into our lockers," Sam remarked bluntly.

"Ms. Manson? You're here too?"

"All four of us are," Jazz answered.

"Hamlet Prince of Denmark! Don't worry, I'll have you out of there soon."

Lancer ran off and returned a minute later. "I have just called the police and they'll be sending a rescue squad immediately."

"Thank God, we'll be out of here soon. I don't think I've ever looked forward to breathing fresh air so much in my lifetime," Sam stated.

"It sure makes you want to take care of your locker more and maybe put in a few air fresheners or food," Tucker commented.

"Or an escape hatch?" Sam added.

"That too."

"Sir, did you see anyone walking around the school?" Danny asked.

"Well Mr. Dickens was on his way to my office," Mr. Lancer explained while Danny kicked the wall of his locker and Sam swore. "We were going to talk about you like I promised, why do you ask?" he asked as he looked around curiously at their reactions to the information.

"Because someone walked past here and stopped in front of the lockers but wouldn't help us. It had to be him. That lousy, stupid, prejudiced jerk!"

"Yes, his office is from this direction. Don't worry, I will be talking to him about this as well."

Danny's eyes glowed green, lighting up the inside of the locker. "Not if I get to him first." This was just the perfect topping to an already horrible day. Mr. Dickens singling him out again in class, Dash making fun of his half-dead state, Dash shoving him into a locker with a ghost shield, Mr. Dickens walking past the lockers without bothering to help, it was all too much.

Danny was snapped out of his thoughts of his horrible day by the sound of an explosion.

The four of them jumped in shock from the noise, bumping their heads on the tops of their lockers.

"Ow! What just happened?" Jazz asked.

"A locker right across from us, it just exploded in green light," Lancer explained as he stared in awe at the locker.

"Exploded?" Tucker asked.

"Green light?" Sam asked.

"Danny," Jazz stated slowly.

"What?" he asked annoyed. "I didn't see it. If you forgot I'm stuck in a locker just like…wait, you don't think I did it, do you?"

"C'mon Danny, green light? Almost all your powers emit some form of green light."

"So do all of Mom and Dad's weapons, but that doesn't mean that they did it either. Besides, I can't even make things explode."

"And a few months ago you couldn't turn your voice into sonic waves but you can now," Sam pointed out.

"So?"

"So chances are that you did it. And you were pretty angry."

"What has that got to do with anything?"

"Well, wasn't it an emotion that triggered the Ghostly Wail?" Sam asked.

"And the ecto-blast?" Tucker reminded.

"And frankly any of your powers right after the accident?" Sam added.

"Alright, I get the picture."

"Um, can I ask what's going on?" Lancer asked, staring at the four lockers, extremely confused.

"Danny did it," Tucker and Sam answered.

"But how did…never mind, I've given up trying to understand."

"Hey Danny, why don't you try to make the locks explode?" Tucker suggested, always the instigator when it came to showing off Danny's new powers.

"I don't know…"

"Aw come on. You know you want to," Tucker pressured.

Danny closed his eyes, focusing on the lock outside of Jazz's locker, and then thinking about Dickens simply walking past them, not caring, not bothering to help…

He heard an explosion and immediately he opened his eyes. He did cause the explosion.

"What happened?" he asked in urgency.

"The lock on Ms. Fenton's locker, it just, exploded," Lancer described.

"Sweet! Danny, you can make things explode!" Tucker gushed. "Mine next, mine next."

"Alright, be quiet. This takes a lot of concentration."

"It takes a lot of concentration to be angry? I thought it would be easy, especially since a lot of people have seemed to piss you off today."

"No, that's the easy part. The hard part is aiming."

The lock on Tucker's locker exploded, soon followed by Sam's and finally Danny's.

Tucker and Sam jumped out of their lockers, joining Jazz in rejoicing to be out of the uncomfortable rectangle by stretching.

"Uh, I think my back's going to hurt for weeks!" Tucker complained as he started to straighten his back while his spine popped and cracked.

"Mr. Lancer, we're here," the police officer announced.

"Thank you, but we seem to have already sprung the students from the lockers."

"Courtesy of Danny's new power!" Tucker bragged.

"Tucker," Danny warned.

That drew Mr. Lancer's attention to Danny. "Mr. Fenton, why don't you get out?"

"Can't. Dash put a ghost shield up around the locker."

"Grapes of Wrath you must be kidding me!"

"Boy I wish I were," Danny lamented as he tried to stick his hand out the open locker door but the area glowed green and Danny wrenched his hand back quickly.

"We need to find my parents. They'll know what to do."

"Alright, officer, please escort Ms. Fenton here to her house, and do it quickly!"

The officer nodded his head and they headed out.

"Don't worry Mr. Fenton, we'll get you out of there, and then I'll begin paperwork to see if I can get Mr. Baxter expelled."

"Isn't his father on the school board?" Sam asked.

"Yes, which is why I didn't explicitly say that he will be expelled, but I will try. Oh I will try."

A few minutes later, Danny heard his mother's voice echo down the halls, calling his name. His head lifted, as did his spirit. His parents would be able to get him out. They knew what they were doing. It was their invention after all.

"Danny are you all right?" his mother asked as she stood in front of the locker.

"I found the missing ghost shield," he answered with a slight smile. His mother smiled back.

"Don't worry son, we'll get you out. We just need turn off the shield," his father comforted as he grabbed a chair from a nearby classroom and started looking at the ghost shield on the top of the lockers.

""Oh sweetie we're so sorry! We thought you were out fighting a ghost!"

"Told you," Sam gloated.

"You know, we really need to set up a system so you know when I'm fighting ghosts and when I'm not," Danny added as his father deactivated the ghost shield. Danny jumped freely out of the locker, never more thankful to be out of the locker.

"Man, I don't know which is worse, the locker or the Fenton Thermos," Danny moaned as he cracked his back.

"You've been inside the thermos?" his mother asked.

"Yeah. Jazz has horrible aim."

"So I messed up once."

"Once? Try three times, in a row!"

"I thought we were over this."

"Over it? How can I be over it? Have you ever been sucked into a cylindrical container?"

"No but I have been shoved into a locker and…"

"And so have I, so we're still not even."

"What is this, a contest?"

"At the moment, yes."

"Alright, I think that's enough. I think you've all been shoved inside lockers near each other for too long. Let's get you all home," Maddie suggested.

"I'll meet you there. I want to fly home."

The rest of them looked at him suspiciously.

"What? I'm not going to do anything to Dash, I just don't want to be holed up in a car when I can be out in the fresh air."

His parents finally nodded their heads in agreement and he went ghost, flying through the roof and into the sky, relishing in the soft, cool breeze that rushed across his sweaty face. He cleared his mind and left all the thoughts of exploding locks, annoying bullies, and biased teachers behind and just let the feelings of comfort wash over him as he took his time getting home.

* * *

Danny flew in through the door, smiling when he noticed that all the windows in the house were opened. Obviously they still felt as closed in as he did. As he turned human, he felt someone grab his arm and start dragging him up the stairs.

"Danny, we need to talk," Jazz demanded.

"Okay, but you don't have to drag me! I can walk up the stairs myself!"

Jazz dragged him into his room and shut the door, turning to face him. "What's this about making some strange vow with Vlad?"

"Wait, how did you…?" he started to ask, then he noticed Tucker and Sam sitting on his bed. "Thanks guys. Way to keep a secret."

"Danny, we had to tell her," Tucker defended.

"We needed her opinion," Sam added.

"On what?" Danny asked.

"On whether or not that's responsible for giving you the power to blow stuff up," Jazz finished.

"What? No, that's not possible. Vlad said that we wouldn't be able to access the energy the other one gave so it wouldn't make us any weaker or more powerful."

"And according to you he also said that he didn't know what it would do to half-ghosts," Sam argued.

"We think you somehow found a way to tap into that transferred energy, which is what gave you your new power," Jazz explained.

"Or maybe I was just due for learning another one."

"I doubt it. Last time I checked Vlad can't even make things explode yet, which means this one isn't normal, just like the Ghostly Wail. Something triggered it's appearance. While in that locker something happened that allowed you to tap into that stored energy, and we need to know what."

"And you think I know? I was just feeling really pissed at that stupid teacher for walking past us and not helping. I mean honestly, would it have been that hard to get some help? I mean, he didn't have to let me out, but he could at least have been decent enough to help you!"

The lamp on his table exploded in a blast of green light and everyone turned to stare at him. He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, lost control."

Jack and Maddie burst into the room, weapons blazing. "What happened?" they asked.

"Oh nothing, Danny's just blowing stuff up because he can't control his emotions," Jazz explained as she pointed to the charred remains of the lamp on his desk.

"Since when have you been able to blow stuff up?" Maddie asked.

"Today," Tucker and Sam answered.

"Because Danny's going around making deals with evil ghosts that screwed him up."

"It's not like I had a choice!" Danny defended.

"Daniel James Fenton, you explain this to us right now!" his mother demanded.

Danny sighed and sat down on his bed, telling his parents about the Ghostly Vow, which they'd never heard of, omitting what the deal actually entitled.

"Alright, so you traded some of your power with the Wisconsin Ghost?" Maddie asked in disbelief.

"Not traded. It was more of a reflection," Danny explained.

"And so you have a reflection of his power within you."

"Yes. And I can only access it if he breaks my end of the bargain, so thinking that this gave me a new power doesn't make any sense because I shouldn't be able to tap into it."

"Danny, I know you're not going to like hearing this and I don't like suggesting it, but I think we need to run some tests."

"What? Come on, you guys are way overreacting."

"But you said so yourself that you shouldn't be able to use the power inside you, but clearly you are. There's something wrong here," Jazz argued.

"I want to see this energy, make sure that it's not doing anything bad to you."

"Alright fine," he agreed. Could the day possibly get any worse?

They went down to the lab and Danny laid down on a stretcher, his sister and friends standing next to him, making sure everything went all right. His father wheeled a machine near Danny's body while his mom pushed some buttons on a control panel.

"Alright, what is this thing?" Danny asked.

"This baby? We've been wanting to try it out on you for ages!" his father bragged.

"What?" Danny and Jazz asked, their eyes wide with worry.

"Jack, you're scaring them!" Maddie reprimanded. "It's nothing bad. This is like a ghostly version of an x-ray. It measures and maps out the energy stored inside a ghost. We always said that if we ever captured the Ghost Boy we'd run this test to see how much energy you actually have because it seems like you have more than a common ghost. But don't worry, it won't hurt at all."

"Have you ever tested it?" Jazz asked.

"Well, no," Maddie admitted.

"And you know it doesn't hurt…how?"

"Because it's just an x-ray, there's no reason why it should hurt."

"Can we just get this over with please?" Danny asked, having better things to do with his time, like talking to Mr. Dickens or getting revenge on Dash.

"Alright. Sam, on my signal, kill the lights," Maddie instructed as she pushed some buttons and the machine started to hum. "Danny, ghost form please, and I'd shut your eyes."

Danny went ghost and closed his eyes as Sam turned off the lights. His father moved the machine so it encased Danny's entire body. Maddie pushed a button and icy blue light poured from the top of the machine and over Danny's body. On the computer attached to the machine a picture of Danny's body started to form in white, glowing brightly against the black backdrop of the screen.

"It looks like the energy runs through Danny completely, which isn't unexpected, though it is much brighter than it is for other ghosts. And there seems to be a large concentration of energy in his chest. That could be where the transferred energy is being stored.

"Alright Danny, when I say go, I want you to create a dome around us and then turn invisible a few seconds afterwards, alright?"

"What for?"

"To see what it looks like when you normally use your powers. Ready? Go!" Maddie ordered as she pushed a button. Danny created an ecto-dome around them and then released it. He waited a few seconds and then turned invisible, held it, and then regained visibility.

"Alright, that makes sense. Now Danny, I want you to blow something up."

"What?"

"I don't know, find something."

Danny smiled. He knew exactly what he wanted to blow up.

"Not an invention!" his father shouted.

"Darn, I wanted to blow up the Ghost Gabber. It would be so easy to get mad at that stupid invention."

Danny instead selected as his target an empty box. He thought this time of Dash's comment at lunch and the box immediately exploded.

"Yup, just what I thought. You are using that energy."

"What?" Danny asked.

"Here, let me show you." Jack slid the machine off his body and Maddie pointed the computer screen towards him. The way his body looked on the screen reminded him of the way heat sensors looked when they detected a human heat signature. "See, this is what happens when you normally use your powers." The white glow that made up the shape of his body increased it's intensity before dying down again, and then repeated the action, but not as brightly.

"See Danny, all your energy is used when you use a power, and the more it glows the more energy you use. Now, this is what it looks like when you blow something up."

The energy in the center glowed brightly and the glow spread throughout his body from there. Then it died back down, heading back towards the center.

"I don't know how Danny, but when you blow something up you're tapping into that energy source."

"But I shouldn't be allowed to."

"What exactly was the deal you made with Plasmius?" Jazz asked.

"I wouldn't tell anyone about him and he would promise to help me out when I asked."

"What exactly did he promise? Word for word."

"Oh come on, you expect me to remember that?"

"If this vow has such severe punishments for not obeying it, then yes."

Danny thought back to the night they made the vow. Remarkably, the events were strangely clear in his mind. "He said he owes me a favor, to help at any time and for any purpose save stopping his own plans."

"Of course," Jazz muttered after a few minutes of silence. "Don't you see Danny? Plasmius screwed up! He worded it differently than what he wanted to say! He said he owes you a favor _and_ to help you at any time. Obviously the Ghostly Vow took that as giving you the ability to tap into his power whenever you need help."

"But when I blew that thing up I didn't need help."

"No, but you were angry, and generally when people are angry, they can use all the help and resources they can get to ramify the situation. And, didn't you need help getting out of the locker?"

"So, what exactly does this mean?" Sam asked.

"It means that Plasmius' power is helping Danny out whenever he needs it by increasing his power and/or teaching him new ones."

"Sweet," Tucker remarked.

"So see, making this Ghostly Vow thing wasn't such a bad idea after all, huh?" Danny asked with a smile at Jazz.

"No, it was still a bad idea, but at least it's turning out for the best."

"And I can still ask for a favor, right?"

"You should be able to. I don't see any reason why you shouldn't. The only problem I see is that I don't think you can access Plasmius' power against him, since he excluded himself."

"Darn, that would've been nice."

With the experiment over and the explanation found, Tucker and Sam headed home while the Fenton children retreated to their bedrooms to work on homework. Danny breezed through his Biology assignment with no difficulties, probably because he actually paid attention to Lancer for once, and pulled out his math homework. Just looking at the assigned problems made his blood boil and his pencil explode, but he didn't care.

He headed to the window, staring out at the city. He looked back at the forgotten homework on his desk and returned to staring at the buildings, one in particular. He made up his mind and went ghost, flying through the window and out into the sky.

He was going to have a talk with his math teacher.

* * *


	13. Revenge

A/N: I know most of you are probably pretty surprised to see this update, and frankly I am too. It happened late last night that I suddenly remembered that on old computers (like the ones my grandparents have) they have USB ports in the _back _of the computer. Sure enough, I checked and it does. I also happened to have my laptop with me and a memory stick, so, here's the story. Life's little wonders, huh? But man this takes forever on dial up...

And in response to School's Out Ghoul's Out, I have to sadly admit that while it was a good episode, I was disappointed. I mean, ignoring the whole fix-all solution at the end that I knew was coming, they didn't show hardly any reactions to Danny's powers, and Valerie wasn't anywhere in the whole episode! At least they did a little with his parents, which was cool, but I just wished there was less focus on the jewels and more on his fellow students' reactions. And plus, now that Danny knows that his parents are accepting of him, there is no logical reason why he should keep his ghost fighting a secret from them, so I'd really like to see how the rest of the series goes after this.

Anywho, enough of my complaints. To the chapter!

* * *

Chapter Thirteen  
Revenge

He landed in front of Dickens' bland house and turned human, pounding forcefully on the door. Dickens answered, his face looking downcast as he noticed with disappointment that it was Danny at his door. As Danny saw his face emerge from behind the door, he had to struggle to control the urges to blow something up near Dickens, most particularly his head.

"Yes, I was wondering when I'd be forced to see your unwanted face at my door," Dickens moaned.

"We need to talk," Danny stated sharply, not letting his eyes waver from Dickens'. He was not leaving this house until he got things straightened out, and he didn't care how long it took or how many taunts he had to endure. He was going to show this man that he was more than a ghost and that he needed to treat him fairly and if he still refused, he'd find some kind of revenge.

"I figured we might. You feel you're being treated unfairly and you want to show me the error of my ways and demand that I treat you like a the normal student, correct?"

Danny didn't falter, though he was amazed that Dickens knew his reasoning so promptly. So much for giving Dickens the benefit of the doubt that he was unknowingly being prejudiced. He knew, and he just didn't care.

"Yes, among other things."

"Well, I would invite you inside, but I don't want your tainted body touching my floors."

Danny's blood boiled and down the street a basketball hoop exploded. "Listen, you can invite me in or I can just walk right in. Either way, I'm coming in and we're having a talk."

"Fine fine. I think I have some disinfectant spray in the bathroom for when we're done," Dickens added as he walked away from the door, Danny following him into the living room where Dickens took a seat. Danny, however, preferred to stand.

"Ah, I'm glad you've elected to stand. I didn't want to have to refuse you a seat, but if you tried I would have had to."

Danny's eyes flickered green but they returned to their normal color as he composed himself. He knew before he came that he'd be forced to put up with these comments. He couldn't lose his temper. He had to remain in control.

"Why didn't you let us out of the lockers?" Danny asked, his voice even and controlled.

"Ah, so you did figure out it was me, most likely from Lancer huh? Well, the answer is simple: I applaud Mr. Baxter for shoving you into that locker and he will receive A's for the rest of my teaching career for that. If you were stuck in your locker, people wouldn't be forced to witness your abnormality. While stuck in your locker, the people were safe from you."

"And the others?"

"If they choose to still stand up for you then they must suffer the consequences. Maybe then they'll finally see the light and treat you like the freak you are."

"Alright, that's it. This stops now. I'm sick and tired of you treating me like I have some kind of disease."

"But don't you see? Being part ghost _means_ you're infected with a disease. It taints you, marks you, singles you out. You're contaminated with ghostly attributes and that makes you unfit to be around the rest of the normal civilization."

"Just stop. That's not true and you know it."

"Or is it actually the truth? Think about it. Ghosts are evil and have always been that way and here's you, part ghost, part evil. You're tainted with evil inside you that most normal people don't have. So not only are you a freak with weird powers and abilities, but you're also evil and will remain that way so long as you're part ghost."

Danny's eyes were glowing green and all the objects in the room were on the verge of exploding. He glared at Dickens, taking deep heavy breaths, trying to control his anger, and the urge to locate Dickens' heart and cause it to explode.

"You don't understand. I'm an exception. I'm part human, and I still have a human conscience and obey human morals."

"For how long? How do you know that your ghost half won't take over?"

"It doesn't work that way."

"At least you don't think it does. He may be biding his time, waiting for you to become weak."

How did he know that? He was getting too close to the actual truth. It was almost like he knew what was threatening to happen to him in the future. But how could he possibly know? There was no way at all. He was just being paranoid. He was letting Dickens' comments get to him. He just needed to stay focused on convincing Dickens otherwise.

"Look, it's my body and my mind and I think I know what's going on with it."

"Or you could just be in denial."

"My parents believe that ghosts are inherently evil, but they see me as an exception because they know that I'm not evil!"

"No, they see you as their son, and are thus a little biased. The only reason they still accept you is because you're their son. Before, they had no problem hurting you."

"Just shut up!" Danny yelled as all the picture frames in the room cracked. Mentioning his parents was far above the level of tolerance for Danny's temper. "You don't even know what you're talking about! You're a math teacher! You don't know a thing about ghosts or their natures! You're not one to lecture me on what I am and am not! You have no experience, no knowledge, no nothing!"

The objects in the room were shaking, threatening to explode at any second while Danny fumed, his eyes like fluorescent lights. Dickens looked about at the shaking furniture, looking pleased, like it was his goal to make Danny angry. But deep into his eyes, Danny saw fear, true fear.

"Obviously my comments have more truth to them than you claim, since they're making you lose your temper so much."

Danny's clenched hand glowed green as he stared down at Dickens.

"Oh, you wouldn't shoot me Mr. Fenton. Shooting me, a defenseless human, would only prove my point. But, be my guest. Prove my point for me."

Danny's hand stopped glowing as he turned around, fighting within himself. Every ounce in his body wanted to blast Dickens. He was far from defenseless; he had his words, which were weapons enough. But still, he never attacked a human, and he didn't want to give Dickens the satisfaction of breaking his oath. If he did shoot him, he couldn't say he'd never hurt a fellow human on purpose. While he came here with the intention of revenge, he knew before he landed that using his ghost powers on him was out of the question. Then he'd be no better than the ghosts he sent back into the Ghost Zone.

"See Daniel, I knew you couldn't…" Mr. Dickens was cut off by Danny's fist contacting his face as Danny swung around and punched him, sending him cleanly over the couch.

"Shooting you with an ecto-blast may be a ghostly attribute, but punching is definitely a human one," Danny smirked, reveling in satisfaction while he waited for Dickens to rise from behind the couch.

As he pulled himself up, Danny thought he saw a glimmer of red light in his eyes. It was only for a second and at first Danny thought it had just been an illusion, his imagination trying to find a justification to satisfy Danny's urge to blast the teacher, but then everything started making sense. The unexplained hatred, the strange knowledge of ghosts, everything started falling into place.

Mr. Dickens was being overshadowed.

His infuriated teacher glared at him from behind the couch and Danny quickly made up his mind on what he wanted to do. He raised his hand and shot an ecto-blast at Dickens, straight through the chest. Dickens doubled over as the ecto-blast pushed a glowing ghost out of his body. He looked up at Danny and then at the hovering ghost behind him and crawled quickly across the floor, out of the way while Danny transformed, his eyes never leaving the red gaze of the formless ghost in front of him. He was a congregation of glowing green gas, formed in the traditional ghostly profile, his red eyes lighting up the space around them like break lights.

"So you're the one causing all the trouble," Danny announced menacingly as he clenched his fists in attack position.

"Infuriator, pleased to finally meet you in person," the ghost greeted as he bowed.

"All the comments, all the remarks, have all been of your doing."

"Oh, they're not just my doing. They're his as well," Infuriator explained, gesturing towards the cowering Dickens beside a table.

"Only because you were controlling him at the time," Danny clarified. "And I've got to say, you think quite unfavorably on your own species."

"If I do, it's because he does." Danny cocked his head slightly in confusion. "That's what I do. I control people, but not completely. I infuriate them, take their anger and make it more pronounced, make them say things they wouldn't normally say or do things they would normally tell themselves is wrong or improper. I express their true feelings in more pronounced ways."

"I don't care what you do. All I care is that you stop."

"Well kid, there's the problem, you'll have to make me stop."

"No problem."

Danny's fists glowed as he shot a series of ecto-blasts at the amorphous specter. Infuriator flew around, his gaseous body resembling a comet as he dodged the blasts. Danny charged towards him, flying at him with fists drawn but the gas just parted around his fist, causing no damage.

"It's a bigger problem than you thought, huh kid?" the ghost taunted as he shot a red blast out of his eyes. Danny quickly threw his hands up, a shield forming around his hands, deflecting the blast.

Danny let the shield down and immediately fired a round of ecto-blasts, hoping that at least one of them would hit his opponent, but he just continued to fly around them or create holes where the blasts were aiming. As he created another shield to block Infuriator's eye beam, inspiration hit and Danny knew what he had to do. He let the shield down early and dodged the remains of the eye blast. Just as the blast finished, Danny shot an ecto-blast at Infuriator's eyes, causing him to scream in pain as the blast hit them. Then he shot off another series of blasts mercilessly while Infuriator was too distracted with his pain to dodge them, causing him to scream out even more. He continued to throw blasts, taking out all his hatred, all his revenge, on the true culprit behind his misery and pain. Objects exploded around the ghost, the remains of the explosion hitting the ghost along with the ecto-blasts. Finally, Danny aimed the thermos at him and caught him in the blue light.

"Capturing me doesn't change what I said. It's still the truth," Infuriator warned as the thermos sucked him up. He capped the lid and landed, turning towards the cowering Dickens.

"It's all right; he's gone. He's not going to control you again."

"You…you helped me," Dickens remarked in disbelief as he used the table to help himself stand.

"Uh, yeah."

"But why? You're a ghost."

"Look, not all ghosts are evil. That ghost just made you think that."

"No, I actually think that. Deep down, I really do have a bias towards ghosts, and that extends even to you."

"Why?"

"My wife. One morning, I had a craving for lasagna, so I asked my wife to make her famous recipe, but we didn't have all the ingredients, but she told me it wasn't a problem. She said she'd just make a special quick trip to the grocery store and then come home," Dickens described as he sat on the couch. "Half an hour passed, an hour, and still she wasn't home and I became worried, so I ran out after her. On the way, I found a huddle of people, watching a great battle in the sky. It was you, fighting some ghost. As I tried to maneuver through the crowd, not caring at that point about ghosts, I noticed that the innermost part of the crowd was staring at the floor. As I shoved my way in, I saw my wife's body on the ground, her head resting in a pool of her own blood, a block lying nearby. They said that she was walking when a piece of brick from the above building was dislodged by a blast from the ghostly battle above and hit her on the forehead, killing her instantly. They said it wasn't your fault, that the other ghost you were fighting shot the blast, but I still harbored ill feelings towards both of you, towards all ghosts. If they didn't exist, none of this would have happened. If you had stopped him sooner or weren't even there in the first place, she wouldn't have been hit in the head with debris from the battle."

"Mr. Dickens, I'm so sorry. I never knew," Danny apologized, but he knew it was worthless. Still, he needed to say something to lift the feeling of guilt. He'd been receiving letters in the mail thanking him for unknowingly saving members of their family by stopping a ghost, but he never even considered that he'd actually unintentionally hurt some people during the fights as well.

"I know, and the logical part of me realizes that, but the rest of me doesn't care. I still hate ghosts, and that's what that other ghost played off of, that hatred."

Danny looked down at the floor, not sure how to respond, noticing awkwardly that he was still in ghost form.

"Look Daniel, you've always been a good kid and a good student, but it's going to take some time to get over the ghost half of you. You've got to understand. I know that everything you said earlier is probably true and you're right, I don't know anything about ghosts, but that still doesn't help my feelings towards them. But you saved me, freed me from the ghost, and even though I was rotten to you, you didn't give up and wanted to fix it, and for that, I think you deserve another chance."

Danny smiled slightly, finally looking up. "That's all I ask for."

"It won't be easy, and I'm not going to give you any guarantees, but I will try. So, to a hopefully new start tomorrow?" Dickens offered as he extended his hand.

Danny nodded and shook Dickens' hand. Then he walked out of the house, finally feeling relief and closure that the source of all his trauma in the classroom was taken care of. Sure things weren't going to be instantly perfect. He had a feeling that he would still be singled out, but it wouldn't be as bad as before. Dickens was going to try, and that's all he could ask for. It was just like with Valerie, it was going to take some time.

* * *

Danny flew into the basement and threw Infuriator back into the Ghost Zone. As he headed up the stairs, he was halted by Jazz sitting at the kitchen table with Tucker and Sam.

"Hey Danny, where've you been?" Jazz asked suspiciously.

"Ghost attack," Danny answered truthfully.

"Really? Because I think it's a little ironic that you left for a ghost attack without first telling us."

"I don't always tell you guys when I go out to fight a ghost."

"We also found an exploded pencil and your unfinished math homework on your desk. Did you go out to talk to Mr. Dickens?"

"What?" Curse his sister, she was way too smart.

"Danny."

"Okay okay, yes I went to talk to him, but I didn't do anything to him! We just…talked, and you're not going to believe what happened."

"He started liking you?" Tucker asked in amazement.

"Heck no. He started saying I was diseased and tainted, but that's beside the point. Dickens was being overshadowed!"

"What?" the three of them asked.

Danny sat down and explained everything Infuriator told him and then everything Dickens had told him while his three friends listened in wonder.

"Wow. The thought never even crossed my mind. I thought he was just being that nasty because he was a jerk," Sam stated once Danny finished.

"Yeah, me too," Jazz added.

"Well, at least things'll be easier now," Tucker remarked.

"I don't think so. I mean, he still really doesn't like ghosts, and I don't blame him, but I think he's at least going to try, which is all I can ask for. I mean, I can't just expect him to start liking me just because I saved his life once. He still partially blames me for his wife's death. I don't think he'll ever like me, but things at least will get better."

"Well Danny, I'm proud of you," Jazz stated as she placed her hand on Danny's. "You could've hurt him but you didn't. We were so afraid that you left to get revenge on him, or on Dash."

"That's right! I totally forgot about Dash!"

Jazz hit herself on the head. "Just, forget I said that."

"Don't worry Jazz, I won't do anything to him."

"Oh good, for a minute there I thought…"

"I already thought of the perfect revenge."

* * *

A green mist floated through the darkness of a castle, the only thing lighting its way was the red light emanating from its eyes. It turned a few corners before finally coming to a stop down a long dark hallway. The mist assembled itself into the typical form of a ghost and bowed, waiting to be addressed.

"Infuriator. You're back sooner than I expected," the icy voice greeted.

"I am Master, but that is because my task was finished sooner than planned."

"You mean you were discovered sooner than I wanted," he hissed as  
Infuriator cowered, hoping to avoid his master's wrath.

"Master please, whether I was discovered sooner or not is irrelevant. The goal has been carried out successfully."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes Master."

"Very well then, you are now free from my services and may do as you please. But tell no one what has transpired here,"

"Of course Master, and thank you," Infuriator thanked as he quickly left before his Master changed his mind again, glad to finally be free.

"Master, forgive me, but why did you free him? Nothing's changed," Skulker stated as he stepped forward out of the darkness and kneeled.

"Of course it has Skulker. You still refuse to see the little details, which is why you've always failed when it comes to Danny Phantom. Infuriator did exactly what we wanted; he has planted the seed of doubt."

* * *

A/N: I just want to take this opportunity to thank Tamiara and Pterodactyl for their assistance with this chapter. I was completely stuck on two parts (which was how Dickens' overshadowing would be revealed and how Dickens could still act unfavorably towards Danny because I didn't want to make it look like the only people that were mean to Danny were people being overshadowed). Tamiara helped me figure out how to solve the second hitch and both of them helped me sort out how to do the first. So I just wanted to thank them for allowing me to bounce ideas and problems off of them, even though they were cryptic in nature since I didn't want to tell them what was going on. So thanks! This chapter owes you one! 


	14. Dash's Lesson

A/N: I give you full outright permission to blame Tortured Truth for taking this long to put up this chapter. I realize that I spent far too long on that chapter and it took up all the time I would normally use to put this chapter up, but it was the final chapter, so can anyone really blame me?

I'm really glad a lot of people didn't see it coming that Dickens was being overshadowed. Although, until a few chapters before, neither did I ). I hope you like the new twist coming, as well as the revenge on Dash.

And again thank you all so much for all your reviews and support! Couldn't do it without you!

* * *

Chapter Fourteen  
Dash's Lesson

Danny walked up to his locker as sounds of laughter rang out behind him from Dash and his friends. He turned to glare at them, his eyes glowing green. They shut up quickly as Danny turned back to opening his locker while smiling at Tucker and Sam.

"Hey Fenton, how'd it feel being stuck in your locker without being able to get out?" Dash teased, regaining his bravery.

Danny slammed his locker shut before turning to face Dash. "I wager about as good as you'll feel when you're stuck in jail without being able to get out."

"Jail?"

"Yeah, because that's where you'll be headed after we charge you with breaking and entering, not to mention theft. My parents are talking to the police right now," Danny added as he walked off.

"Have a great day Dash!" Tucker waved as he walked off with Danny.

"And enjoy that sunshine. You may not be seeing it for much longer!" Sam yelled before bursting into a fit of laughter with the other two.

"Are your parents really talking with the police?" Tucker asked.

"No," Danny answered.

"Pity," Sam remarked.

"But Jazz is. She talked to them this morning."

"Brilliant."

"Yeah. Unfortunately the police can't jail him because he's only a minor, but per my request they're going to throw him in for at least a day but make it look like he'll be there for all four years of high school, thinking he's stuck in jail for the 'best years of his life'. That'll be totally precious. Then the rest of his punishment is community service and a fine. Jazz is very happy. She thinks this is a perfectly suitable revenge."

"But…" Tucker goaded.

"But what Jazz doesn't know can't hurt me."

"You've got more?" Sam asked in earnest.

"This is only the beginning."

* * *

Danny walked into Dickens' classroom, anticipating class for the first time since the revelation. He wanted to see how different things would be. He knew not to expect too much because he knew there wasn't going to be that big of a difference, but something would be nice.

Dickens entered the room and greeted the class. As he sat down behind his desk he looked at Danny, his face even. No grimace or expression of loathing filled his face. It remained expressionless, just like how he looked at the rest of the students. Danny felt his heart leap. Already there was some improvement. He was already being treated like the others and this was the first morning he wasn't singled out during the beginning of class.

The rest of the class passed and Dickens didn't talk to Danny or even acknowledge he was there, but he actually didn't mind being ignored. It was much better than always being brought to the class' attention. The rest of the class was confused, including Valerie, who all thought that Dickens still hated Danny, but he wasn't showing it today.

As class was almost finishing, sirens were heard outside the classroom and Dash sat up, his eyes wide in fear. When the sound of the sirens died away he calmed down again but still looked paranoid while Tucker, Sam, and Danny tried hard not to burst out laughing.

After class Danny waited patiently through the rest of his classes, looking forward to lunch, when the second part of his brilliant plan of revenge would happen.

Finally the bell to signal lunch rang and Danny walked to the cafeteria, smiling. He grabbed his food and sat outside, greatly enjoying his lunch.

"Alright Danny, I've gotta know. What is it? I can't take it any longer," Sam pestered, noticing Danny's enjoyment. "You never enjoy the cafeteria food this much, so something's gotta be happening."

"You'll see."

"See, that's the response we don't like," Tucker stated. "We like the 'oh sure, I'll fill you in, since you're my best friends and partners in crime after all. See, my brilliant plan to get revenge on Dash is...' get the picture?"

"Fine. My brilliant plan to get revenge on Dash is…"

"Well?"

"You never told me I had to add anything after that," Danny smirked as his ghost sense went off. "But, why use words when the action is coming."

Tucker and Sam looked at Danny but quickly shifted their gaze to the ghost flying towards the school, their looks of expectation turning to looks of joy as they realized Danny's plan.

"Oh God, you're a genius," Sam marveled as she watched the ghost fly closer to the school, the students starting to scream and point, looking towards Danny to help them.

"Just, act normal," Danny replied, trying hard to fight back a smile, faking concern while going ghost, to the cheers of the rest of the student population. There was nothing to fear now. Danny would save them.

The large light blue dragon swooped down on the outside cafeteria of Casper High, narrowly missing the tables reserved solely for the popular students. It climbed back up while turning, preparing for another swipe, blue smoke emanating from its nostrils. It dived into the popular table and pulled back up, leaving the table one football player short.

Dash screamed as his jacket was held in the sharp teeth of the dragon as he looked at the objects on the ground growing smaller and smaller below his feet. Then the dragon dropped him and he plummeted, seeing the ground appear much faster than he would have ever wished.

"Someone help me!" he screamed as he fell while the rest of the students stared at the falling figure. Danny started to fly towards Dash, but it didn't appear that he'd be able to get there in time.

Feet before hitting the ground the dragon's sharp claws grabbed at Dash's jacket and hoisted him back up again, carrying him into the sky. "I didn't mean you!" Dash yelled when he realized he was back in the dragon's grasp. This time the dragon threw him into the air instead of dropping him, breathing out blue flames that just narrowly missed him as he plummeted, landing into a tree, the branches stopping his fall, scraping and ripping his skin and clothes. Danny flew intangible through the branches until he found Dash while the students watched outside in earnest, afraid to go too near the tree or the dragon to see what was happening.

"Well well, look who's in trouble," Danny taunted while the dragon started ripping away branches, trying to locate its prey as the students outside gasped.

"What're you waiting for? Stop the ghost!" Dash shouted as another branch tore away.

"Well, I just don't _feel_ like saving people today. I don't think my 'hero-complex' is functioning properly. See, while I was so graciously shoved in my locker I had a lot of time to think about what you said. You're right, I don't expect anything in return. So, I decided, maybe now I should. I mean, it seems reasonable, right? Police get compensation for apprehending criminals, so why shouldn't I demand some kind of compensation for apprehending ghosts?" Danny asked as another branch was ripped effortlessly away from the tree, the dragon easily able to see its quarry.

"Look, I was wrong. It's not your dumb hero complex! You do it for the satisfaction of saving the town!"

"Nah, I don't think that's it either. That's not enough to bother with fighting ghosts all the time. All this for just for the satisfaction? Please."

"Alright, so then what do you want?" Dash begged in earnest as the dragon tried to shove it's muzzle through the branches but still found it's way blocked.

"How about a little respect and a thanks?" Danny asked simply.

"What? That's dumb." The dragon ripped apart the last of the branches in its way and looked at its prey, their eyes meeting as the dragon savored the moment before victory. "Okay okay! Thank you!"

"Oh come on Dash, like you mean it," Danny replied while the dragon lunged forward, grabbing Dash by the leg and pulling while Dash held on to a branch, his eyes red and his face pale with fear.

"Alright! I never should have put you in that locker, I realize that now! We do owe you for saving our lives and I'm sorry! Now please, help!" Dash begged as the branch gave way. Danny smiled as he grabbed onto Dash's arm and turned him intangible, easily freeing him from the strong grip of the dragon.

The dragon pulled back and roared in anger, breathing blue flames all over the tree as it quickly caught on fire. The students and now teachers gathered gasped in shock as the entire tree burned blue. The dragon lifted into the air, the wind from its wings putting out the fire in the tree as it resumed its circling position, looking for its next target. But the students weren't paying attention to the dragon. They were staring at the remaining branches of the tree where they saw a green dome surrounding two figures.

Cheers sprung out across the courtyard as Danny flew the unconscious Dash to the ground and into the arms of the nearest teacher. The dragon roared above and charged down at Danny. He created a dome around himself and the surrounding students, causing the dragon to hit into it and bounce off due to its high speed. Danny flew up, shooting ecto-blasts at the dragon who continued to scream in pain. Finally he pulled out the thermos and sucked the dragon in. He landed to the ground and changed back into his human form while the students, if possible, cheered even louder. They flooded him, congratulating and thanking him on a well won fight, not knowing that Danny had planned the whole thing.

* * *

Danny, Tucker, and Sam elected to walk home that afternoon. It was a nice day outside and plus, how else would they get the chance to laugh about everything that had happened that day while stuck in the car with Jazz?

"Man, I'm never going to forget this day as long as I live!" Tucker shouted in joy. "I mean, did you see his face when the police walked into Lancer's class? It was priceless!"

"Oh yeah," Sam replied. "He was already still in shock from being a dragon chew toy and now he's getting carted off to jail for what he believes will be four years! This is great! Danny, we need to spy on him in his cell. I want to see the look of dejection on his face."

"And get a picture. Internet here I come. I've already got some great ones of the fight! But man Danny, that was good timing on your part," Tucker complimented.

"Thanks, but I didn't time it that way. I didn't think the police would get on it so quickly, but I'm sure glad they did. It was so worth it."

"Well that's what he gets for messing around with Danny Fenton and his friends!" Tucker yelled.

"But does he suspect anything?" Sam asked.

"I don't think so. I mean, I think he could tell I was avoiding helping him, but this is Dash we're talking about. I don't think he'd be able to piece together that I set the whole thing up. How'd it look from outside?"

"We couldn't tell a thing. All we could see was Dora hacking away at the branches. No one knew what you were doing in there. To them, you were busy trying to save him, not lecture him."

"Good. And speaking of Dora," Danny stated as he pulled out the thermos and let his accomplice out.

"Great job!" Sam complimented as Dora floated next to them, no longer a dragon. "It looked so believable! You totally scared the crap out of him!"

"Thank you. But the real compliments go to Danny. He is the one who designed the plan."

"Yeah, but you agreed to it. And I hope I didn't hurt you too much. I tried to get as close as I could without actually hitting you."

"Do not worry about it. A few scrapes won't hurt. Besides, from what you have told me of that horrible boy, it was a noble sacrifice to see him suffer."

"Man, I like her more every time I meet her," Tucker remarked.

"Although I loved the fire after you threw him into the air," Danny complimented. "Wonderful improvisation."

"Thank you. I had hoped that you'd approve."

"Very much."

"And no one has suspected our agreement?"

"Nope. You did perfect. Thank you so much."

"My pleasure. Now, I must return home. Farewell!"

"Bye!" the three of them waved as Dora flew off to the Ghost Zone.

"So, who wants to stop off at the police station?"

* * *

"Hey sweetie, how was school?" his mother greeted as Danny and his friends walked in the door, smiles plastered across their faces, having just finished visiting Dash in jail, and collecting tons of pictures to boot.

"Perfect. The best school day of my life!"

"How's that?"

"Well, there was this dragon ghost that attacked the school during lunch and it went after Dash and dropped him into a tree. So I went in there to save him while the dragon tried to rip through all the branches to get to him and, well, I 'conveniently' didn't bother saving him until he thanked me for saving his life and apologizing for shoving me into the locker."

"Way to go Danny-boy!" his father shouted as he slapped him on the back.

"Daniel."

"What?" He looked at his mother's stance and stern expression. "Oh come on Mom. It's not like I would've _let_ him get hurt. The second the dragon made a real move at him I stopped it. I don't hate him that much."

"Alright. Well why don't you and your friends go upstairs and do your homework?"

"Okay," Danny conceded as the three of them walked up to his room, not at all planning to do homework. They had pictures of Dash to upload onto the internet.

* * *

"No no, make that one the picture on the main page. His dejection is so pronounced in that picture," Sam quarreled as Tucker flipped through pictures.

"No, I like the one with him in the dragon's mouth. He's crying like a baby!" Danny argued.

"Oh will you two just stop your bickering? They can both be on the main page!" Tucker comforted, trying to keep the peace. "Jeez, it's just a webpage."

"It's not just a webpage! I'm going to look at this page any time I want to torture Dash, or am just in the mood for a quick pick-me-up," Danny explained.

"It's a symbol of everything we've had to endure this past year!" Sam described.

"Alright, alright. I get the point."

"What are you guys doing?" Jazz asked as she walked into the room.

"Torturing Dash," Danny answered, not drawing his eyes away from the computer screen.

"Don't you think you've done enough?" Jazz asked as she noticed the pictures going up.

"Oh come on, all we've done is send him to jail for a day and take pictures. He shoved me into a locker, stole our ghost shield, and went _way_ too far with name calling! I hardly think that putting these pictures up is going to far."

"No, but putting them up in addition to the ghost attack is."

"So he was the chosen victim of a ghost attack. It's not like that's my fault. Hey Tucker, put that picture there. I like that one."

"Well it is your fault if you planned the whole thing."

"What are you talking about Jazz?"

"Oh come on, I'm not as stupid as Dash. I've seen your ghost files and the dragon ghost is actually a friendly ghost that happens to be a friend of yours. You asked her to pick on Dash for you to get revenge on him."

"Jazz, I don't know where you get your preposterous ideas," Danny replied sarcastically.

"Danny."

""What, I didn't do anything wrong. I didn't use my powers, just like you asked and it didn't ruin my reputation."

"I thought you were just going to leave it to the police?" she asked exasperatedly, messaging her temples.

"But can the police make him yell and scream for help and apologize while a dragon's eating him? Trust me, it was well worth it."

"Should we put up a message section so people can make fun of him on the page?" Tucker asked.

"Of course!" Sam and Danny yelled. Jazz sighed as she headed out of the room, giving up.

A few hours later the website was officially up and visited with great success, due to the fact that Tucker had hacked into the school system and sent the link to every student in Casper High. The message thread was an instant success and Danny and his friends couldn't think of a more perfect revenge than the antics that day. It wasn't just enough to satisfy their revenge against him for the locker incident, but for everything he'd ever done. Well, that and Dash's attitude the next day after realizing that he wasn't doomed to four years of jail time like he thought.

As the three of them laughed over a reply put up by a fellow student they heard the doorbell ring.

"Who'd be ringing the doorbell? The fans and reporters gave up days ago," Danny asked in confusion, trying to think of all the possible people it could be.

"Oh, I hope it's not my parents," Sam moaned as she stood up, heading towards the door. "They didn't like the idea of me coming here because they thought it was dangerous, being at the center of all the ghost action," she explained as they walked down the hall.

"Oh yeah, and like the school isn't," Danny stated.

"Exactly what I told them, but I don't think they cared. Oh, if they try to take me home I'm going to scream."

They reached the top of the stairs and as they did they saw Maddie open the door and heard her gasp. "Mom? Dad?"

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the cliffie! I wasn't originally going to leave it there, but then everything started getting too long afterwards and I knew I had to. Sorry!

And I hope you all enjoyed the revenge on Dash! I wanted to do something other than the overused overshadowing, even though it's totally hilarious, but I hope the punishment satisfies your revenge as much as it did Danny's.


	15. Family Reunion

A/N: Wow, this has to be some kind or record for me as of late. The chapters were only nine days apart, although that might have something to do with the fact that I only have two stories in progress right now...although that'll be changing soon once I start writing the Tortured Truth sequel. 

Anywho, here's the next chapter that'll lead in to another major event. It'll be good, I'm excited. And I think the identity of the Master (as I've grown fond of calling him) will actually be revealed soon! Gasp! It won't be the next chapter, and not the chapter after that, but I think three chapters from now he'll be revealed. At least, that's my goal, but don't quote me on that one.

Thanks again for all the reviews! You don't know how much they've been brightening up my days (I've had a really bad couple of weeks) but they always manage to cheer me up, so thank you so much!

* * *

Chapter Fifteen  
Family Reunion

"Maddie dear! How are you?" the round, red haired woman at the door greeted as she rushed forward, giving her a hug.

"F-fine. What're you guys doing here?" she asked, still blown away while her tall, bespectacled, and balding father also gave her a hug.

"Well we were talking with the Fentons—"

"The Fentons? You never talk with them!"

"Well, there are some events that bring the family together," she answered shortly before continuing. "But we decided that it was high time we visited our children, and of course our grandchildren. They should be arriving behind us. They wanted to take the long way around and patrol the town before coming here."

"They're coming too?"

"Of course. Why dear, you sound so surprised to be hearing all this. Didn't we tell you we were coming?"

"No."

"I'm sure we did. We tried to call you."

"Unplugged the phone."

"Oh. Well, we wrote a letter."

Maddie walked them to the study and gestured to a pile of letters that took up the space of a two person couch. They had long since given up on the fan mail.

"Ah, that would be why you didn't get it. Well, if it's too much trouble then…" she trailed off sadly.

"Mom no. It's not a problem, it's just a shock to see you. You are, of course, welcome here."

"Rose! Harry! Good to see you!" Jack greeted as he walked into the room and swept them up into a hug.

"It's good to see you too Jack," Rose returned, her face starting to turn blue from the tight hug.

"Jack, put my parents down."

"Sorry," he apologized as he set them down.

"Hello Fentons!" a large voice boomed at the door as he entered, wearing a green jumpsuit and carrying a large metallic suitcase. Looking at him, it was obvious where Jack got his looks, judging by their similar build and choice in hairstyles, though admittedly the older Fenton graced more gray hair than the younger.

"Dad! Wow, you're here too!"

"Yup, so's your mother, your sister and brother, and your niece and nephew! Brought the whole family! Well, at least all of the family that counts," he stated bitterly.

"Joe, Mary, how are you?" Maddie greeted, changing the subject as she gave them each a hug.

"Oh wonderful," Mary answered as she walked in the door, her silver hair and glasses covered by her yellow jumpsuit hood.

"Don't be nice Mary," Joe reprimanded. "The trip was horrible. First there was thing young brat at the burger joint who made fun of us for wearing jumpsuits and accused us of being too old for ghost hunting, but boy did he get a shock when he learned our last name was Fenton, I'll tell you that. And then there was this man at the gas station…"

While Grandpa Joe rambled about his horrible trip, Danny stood rooted to the spot at the top of the stairs. He hadn't seen both sets of his grandparents together…well ever. They were completely different types of people, and the only things they had in common were his parents, Jazz, and him.

His mom's parents were brilliant scientists, which was probably where his mom got it from, but unlike his mother they used their brains for genetic research. Danny could tell that they'd long since believed that his mother was wasting her time and brains on ghost research and should instead put it to better use, like finding the cure to cancer or something like that, but they never talked about it. He could tell that they were slightly disappointed, since their only other daughter didn't quite have the capacity for genetic research so there was no one left to continue on with their research, and he was sure his mom noticed that too, judging by how some phone conversations ended. But they were so desperate for an heir that for a few months they had started writing letters to Jazz, trying to get her to do it, but when she told them she wanted to be a psychologist, they couldn't complain. In their eyes, at least that was a recognized profession. For these reasons, and the fact that they blamed his father for getting Maddie hooked on ghosts in the first place, they hardly ever visited and when they did tensions were usually strained between both sets of parents.

His father's parents, however, were exactly like his father in almost every way. They were ghost hunters, and had been for a long time. From what Danny had seen at ghost conventions his grandparents were about as proficient at ghost hunting as his father and made a lot of the same devices. Danny didn't know whether any of them actually worked since he hadn't seen any of them since the accident, but he was sure they got their share of successes, and they were most likely either the really painful or really annoying ones if they shared the same trends as his father's did.

His father had an older brother and sister, but none of them talked about Uncle Jerry. He had denounced ghosts and ghost hunting and was eventually kicked out of the family and was now forgotten. To them, his Aunt Sophia was the oldest of two. His father didn't even like mentioning him. None of them knew what happened to him and none of them cared, except for Jazz. Uncle Jerry was like a hero to her, proof that it is possible to leave the craziness of the Fenton family untouched. The two of them had a secret correspondence and through that Danny learned that his uncle had a very successful job as a professor of philosophy at a college, had gotten married, had three kids, and had no regrets.

Aunt Sophia, however, had continued in the ghost hunting trend, either because she wanted to or didn't want the harsh punishment her other brother faced. Whatever the reason, she had become a ghost hunter, though she did more research than hunting and refused to wear a jumpsuit everywhere she went. Her husband, Steven, was a dentist, but he put up with the ghost obsession of the Fenton family and actually found it somewhat interesting. His two cousins, Arya and Elijah, were a lot like him and Jazz, just trying to find some normalcy in a crazy family, though they had it much easier since their dad was at least a dentist.

"Wow, I don't think I've ever seen so much of your family in one place before," Sam whispered.

"I don't think I've ever seen so much of your family period," Tucker remarked. "Wonder why they're all here?"

Danny and Sam looked at him in disbelief.

'You can't possibly be that stupid Tucker," Sam commented.

"Wha-oh, right," he stated, finally understanding.

"Why don't you guys go find Jazz and tell her what's going on. She'll want to know ahead of time."

They nodded their heads and headed off to Jazz's room. Unfortunately, the movement upstairs caught the attention of the grandparents downstairs.

"Danny!" Grandma Rose yelled, stopping Grandpa Joe's complaints about the trip as they all looked up the stairs at him.

"Um, hi," he greeted awkwardly.

"Why don't you come downstairs and give your grandmother a hug?" she suggested as she headed towards the stairs, her arms open.

Danny walked down the stairs, giving his grandmother a hug, glad to see her after so long, but just wishing that it was under different circumstances. He knew why they'd all come, and he knew it wasn't because they hadn't seen their grandchildren in awhile.

Danny was passed around the visitors like a stuffed animal, each of them giving him a hug before passing him onto the next relation. Finally Jazz emerged at the top of the stairs, was met with great enthusiasm by the relatives, and passed around as well. Sam and Tucker wisely stayed back, simply waving as they were introduced to the family.

"So Danny, carrying on the family ghost hunting business I see, albeit by unconventional means. But still, times change I guess and we couldn't be more proud of you," Grandpa Joe stated, taking a stab at getting the awkward topics out of the way.

"Uh thanks."

"But you don't leave the inventions to waste, right? You still use them?"

"Uh sometimes. It just…depends on the situation."

"Joe, he doesn't need the inventions, he's got ghost powers that do all of that kind of stuff," Grandma Mary reminded him while Danny blushed.

"Well I know, I just thought that maybe he would find some of them useful."

"Well, the thermos is really useful."

"Aha! See, I told you!"

The awkward silence returned to the living room as no one else really knew what to say. Danny could tell they all had questions to ask, which was the real reason for their visit, but they didn't quite know how to ask them.

"Well Danny, you certainly surprised us when we saw you on the news that morning," Grandma Rose remarked.

"I think you shocked everyone," Steven added.

"I shocked myself."

"So, what really happened?" Grandpa Joe asked. "You wouldn't say in the press conference."

"Oh, well, did Mom and Dad tell you about the accident in the portal?"

"Accident? What accident?" Grandma Rose asked, suddenly concerned. "You never told us about an accident!"

"Yeah, you mentioned something about Danny being near the portal when it turned on, but never an accident," Grandma Mary remarked, matching the other's concern.

"Well, we didn't want you guys to worry," Maddie explained. "I mean, at the time, we didn't think anything happened. Obviously we were wrong, but it just didn't sound like something big enough to worry you about."

"Well, what happened?"

"Well the portal wasn't working so I went inside and accidentally turned it on while still inside. The portal activated, I was stuck inside, and I…died, kinda. I really don't know what happened, but that's how I became half ghost."

"Yes, Sophia and I'd love to discuss that with your parents some time," Grandma Mary stated. "That theory seems absolutely impossible and yet here you are, living proof."

"But why didn't you tell anyone?" Grandpa Harry asked.

"I just…didn't think it was important." He didn't think it was necessary to bring his fears of his parents' loss of love and lack of acceptance into this. That was between him and his parents.

"So, does anyone want anything to eat or drink?" Jazz offered, changing the subject. The suggestion was met with appreciation and Jazz headed off to the kitchen, smiling at Danny as she left.

"Your father's told me all about the weapons he's made. Do you help your dad out with the inventions a lot?" Grandpa Joe asked.

"Dad, he doesn't want to talk about that and no one wants to hear about it," Steven remarked.

"Of course he does! Well?"

"Um…no. I mostly try to stay away."

"Oh, well do you even know if they work?"

"Oh trust me, they do."

"What about the Fenton Ghost Tracker? Does that work?" Danny nodded his head. "And the Ghost Gauntlets?" Again Danny nodded his head. "What about the Ghost Gabber?"

"Unfortunately yes."

"The Specter Silencer?"

"I didn't really have laryngitis that day."

"The Specter Shrieker?"

"I think I went temporarily deaf after that."

"The Fenton Boo-merang?"

"If anyone throws that thing again I'll blast it into pieces."

"The Fenton Invisibility Detector?"

"Okay, that one doesn't work."

"The Specter Deflectors?"

"I hate those things with a passion."

Grandpa Joe looked like he was about to ask about another invention, but Jazz brought out the cookies, which instantly ceased the conversation as he shoved cookies into his mouth with a speed that only his father could rival.

"Hey Danny, can you turn into a ghost now?" Elijah asked.

Danny sighed silently while he nodded, knowing that one of them would be bound to ask eventually. He should've just transformed right after greeting them all and gotten it out of the way like he did at the press conference. The white rings formed around his waist, transforming him into his ghostly persona as his relatives gasped while Maddie and Jack smiled in pride.

"That's so cool! How do you do that?"

"I dunno, I just do," Danny answered lamely as he turned back to his human form.

"Oh my gosh, I just remembered! We have a present for you!" Grandma Rose stated excitedly as she started rummaging through her bag. She pulled out a DVD case with a picture of Danny's face on the cover, a white ring of light dividing his face into his human and ghostly halves. On the top is said "Danny Phantom: The Revelation."

"We made it," Grandpa Harry described.

"And we helped!" Grandpa Joe interrupted.

"Your Grandmother, of course, had to record everything on television that showed you after we found out. We decided to take those and make them into a DVD including a slide show at the end with all the newspaper clippings."

"We thought it would be a fun way to contain all the memories of the past few weeks and it'll be something fun to show your children one day too. We're planning on making more as more time passes."

"Wow, um, thanks," Danny thanked, not really sure what to say. He knew his grandma loved commemorating events with video recordings and pictures (and she sometimes liked to commemorate things that weren't even worth it, like using an entire roll of film on a flower) but this was a little extreme. Even his parents looked like they didn't know what to say. Tucker and Sam looked about ready to explode with laughter and Sam even had to excuse herself, claiming she had to use the bathroom.

"We brought one for each of you so you can have your own piece of the memory."

"We're planning on selling ours on Ebay later," Elijah informed him. "Hey, would you sign it? That would make it worth so much more!"

"No way. Danny and I already have an agreement that we get to corner the monopoly on signed Danny Phantom merchandise," Tucker argued. "But you can put yours up after I put mine up and I'll give you, oh, three percent of the profit for waiting."

"Done," Elijah agreed while Danny looked evilly at Tucker while mouthing "traitor."

"Hey, why don't we watch it?" Grandma Rose suggested. Danny felt ready to fake a ghost attack, but he knew that everyone would follow so he just slinked off to find a seat with everyone else while his parents put the DVD in, his mother's smile apologizing for her mother's actions.

So Danny suffered through the intro, which was a montage of clips of his human half in junior high and news clips of his ghostly half to the song "Holding Out for a Hero." Danny had to admit that it was very well done and he probably would have enjoyed it, were it not all of him. Jazz continued to look at the blushing Danny, giving him reassuring smiles that it would be over soon while Tucker and Sam tried hard not to laugh, out of respect for Danny. His mother, however, looked like she was having a hard time trying to hide her enjoyment of it, but Danny knew she'd probably like it. It was just one of those things that mothers, and obviously grandmothers, liked. His father just looked bored, unless the montage showed him, and then he enjoyed it, until the clip ended.

Finally once the introduction was done, the DVD flipped to a news reporter who was describing the ghost attack, trying hard to hold back her excitement at the news she was about to reveal.

"So, what did you think of the intro?" Grandpa Harry asked. Danny could only smile slightly, not daring to open his mouth, afraid of what might come out.

"Oh look, he's speechless!" Grandma Rose exclaimed happily, tears forming in her eyes. "I thought you'd like it, which is why we went to get it professionally done. Oh wait, here's the best part!"

Finally the blonde reporter didn't have to wait anymore to release her exciting news. "And I have been told that it has just been discovered that the Ghost Boy, or Danny Phantom as he prefers to be called, is none other than fourteen year old Danny Fenton, son of ghost hunters Jack and Maddie Fenton."

Listening to the report brought back so many memories of that eventful day, the day that had changed his life into what it was now. He remembered the first time hearing that while he was in his house, watching the television behind his parents, having just run through the reporters on the corner. He remembered his parents' shocked expressions of disbelief, his feelings of dread, knowing that his secret was done for.

"A few hours ago one of our camera men received a tip and caught the Ghost Boy in action fighting a horrifying ghost monster…" the news reporter continued as the familiar scene was played on the television, but Danny was no longer paying attention. Something the news reporter had said had caught his attention more than watching his secret get blown again.

_Our camera man received a tip._ That statement rang throughout Danny's head, reminding him of something he'd forgotten and foolishly never researched.

"Grandpa, did you put the press conference on here?" Danny asked while Jazz, Tucker, and Sam looked at him curiously.

"Of course we did."

"Go there, to the part where Skulker comes in."

"Who?"

"The ghost that I fight. Go to that part."

"Okay," his grandfather agreed, not sure why he'd want to skip ahead, but obeying anyways. He skipped chapters until the fight.

"Oh man, not here!" Danny heard himself say on the stage while the camera turned around quickly, focusing on Skulker.

"Danny, I don't…" his mother began to ask, somewhat concerned with how closely Danny was looking at the television.

"Quiet!" he hushed quickly, paying attention to Skulker, making sure to hear his message again, the message Danny should have paid more attention to the first time he heard it were it not for the problems he was facing at school.

"Ghost Child, I bring a message," the Skulker on the screen stated.

"From who?" he heard himself ask as the camera flipped back to him.

"I have been asked not to say. But, I have come to tell you that your torment is just beginning."

"My 'torment is just beginning', what's that supposed to mean?" The television was silent as Danny looked lost in thought. "This ghost that sent you, he's the one that tipped off the reporter! That's how he knew exactly where to place the mike and the camera, and that's how he knew I'd be there!"

"He also said to offer his congratulations for figuring it out, as he knew you would. Although, I must say you figured it out much earlier than I would have supposed. Well done Ghost Child. Now to collect my reward for delivering this message…" Skulker trailed on while Danny ceased focusing on the screen.

He had totally forgotten about the revelation he had at the press conference. Someone had set him up, and he had been too busy with trying to just survive that the ghost that had done this still had gone unpunished. A feeling of anger surged through Danny (coupled with an exploding trash can outside) as he realized that this was exactly what the ghost had planned. He knew that Danny would be too occupied with just trying to get his life back together than focusing on catching him. He could be well hidden by now. Danny felt another surge of anger as he realized the irony of Skulker's comment. Sure he figured it out earlier than expected, but he didn't act on it, which is probably what Skulker was referring to in the first place. In the end, the message was just a way of mocking him later when he finally got around to researching it.

"Danny, are you all right?" Maddie asked, noticing the look of concentration present on Danny's face and hearing the explosion.

"Uh, yeah, of course. Um, Tucker, Sam, Jazz, and I need to go upstairs," Danny stated standing up, his two friends rising immediately after him as well.

"Now Danny, whatever you need to talk about you can talk about down here. It's not like you have secrets anymore. Now something about that scene was important, so what is it?" she demanded, flipping off the television.

His other relatives looked on in earnest, excited to witness the daily ghost fighting problems of Danny Phantom and see the solution and plan being talked out between Danny and his friends.

"I just remembered something that I totally forgot, something really important. In that news clipping, the lady said the cameraman received a tip from someone and then at the press conference I figured out that whoever Skulker's working for at the moment is the one that tipped him and thus exposed me, but I never looked into who did it! I just let him get away with it!" Danny yelled as the lamp exploded while everyone jumped. "Sorry," he apologized.

"Don't worry Danny, it's not too late," Jazz comforted. "We can still track down the ghost that did this. We can always ask the news crew who gave them the tip."

"Or we can just go beat it out of Skulker," Tucker suggested.

"I like that one better," Danny replied.

"Danny, do you really think that the mastermind behind this is going to let Skulker wander freely throughout the Ghost Zone so you can beat the information out of him? Think about it, that's the only appearance he's made since your secret was blown."

"Alright, then we'll go beat it out of the camera man."

"Danny."

"Threaten it out of the camera man?"

Jazz sighed. "Fine, since that's probably the only way he's going to reveal his source to you."

"Alright, then let's go now," Danny stated as he went ghost and flew into the air.

"Danny, do you realize what time it is?"

"Time to get some information out of the camera man that ruined my life?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of time to be going to bed."

Danny looked at the clock and realized his sister was right, as usual. He floated back to the ground and turned back to human form.

"Alright then, first thing tomorrow, after school of course," Danny added as Jazz glared at him.

"Sleep! Oh my gosh! I never thought about that! How're we going to fit everyone here?" Maddie asked a she looked at everyone in the room. "Well first things first Jazz and Danny you're going to give up your rooms to the grandparents." Danny and Jazz didn't groan because they both expected that one to happen. They were always the first to get booted out. "And let's see…we've got that pull away bed under the couch in the study, so we can clean that out for Steven and Sofia, but that still leaves the kids…"

"Danny and Jazz can sleep over at my place," Sam offered. "We've got more than enough extra rooms."

"Oh nonsense, I'd hate to impose so much upon your family. We'll find a place for them here, that won't be a problem."

"I've got it!" Grandpa Joe shouted. "The Fenton Portable Bed!"

"Of course!" Grandma Mary added.

"Come again," Danny asked, almost afraid.

"I'll go get it." His grandfather ran out the door and returned with a metallic suitcase. "This baby is one of our newest inventions. I knew we brought them all along for a reason. This baby is going to change ghost hunting forever! Observe, a touch of the button and voila!" he described as the suitcase unfolded into a cot. "It may look uncomfortable but I assure you its quite cozy and has some of the best defense systems around! Check this out!"

He pushed another button and a ghost shield emerged from the center of the bed, spreading out around the perimeter of the bed, Danny jumping back and out of its reach.

"Oh, sorry Danny," he apologized. "But see, it works! A ghost can't get anywhere near you while sleeping in this baby! And it also has a cloaking device." He pushed another button, but Danny didn't see any outward change.

"Nothing happened," Sam remarked bluntly.

"Well of course not! The cloaking device only works on ghosts! It prevents ghosts from seeing—"

"I can see it," Danny remarked.

"What?"

"I can see it. The bed, you standing near it, the shield, all of it."

"Oh, well, can you see me now?" he asked as he lay down on the bed and buried himself under the covers.

"Well not you specifically but I can see a human sized lump hiding under the covers."

"Oh drat, that one needs more work. But I promise you this one works. Built in hunting system! It tracks down the ecto-signature of ghosts and hunts them for you, so you can even catch them while the sleep. Observe!"

"Wait Grandpa no!" Jazz yelled as he pushed the button. Ecto-guns appeared around the perimeter of the bed and aimed towards Danny, charging green while Danny's eyes went wide. He immediately placed his hands in front of him and created an ecto-shield which absorbed the blasts from the bed.

"Oops, sorry!" his grandpa apologized while fumbling with the control panel on the bed. "Hmm, I can't seem to remember how to turn it off…"

"You've got to be kidding me," Danny moaned as he went ghost, the ecto-shield glowing brighter as it became stronger. Maddie rushed over to the controls, trying to find the right button while his grandfather just pushed random buttons, hoping to find the one that would stop it.

"How far of a range does this thing have?" Maddie asked.

"Um, pretty far."

"So flying away would do…nothing?" Danny asked.

"Well, it would probably blow a wall out while you flew out of the range."

"Of course."

After a few minutes Danny's shield started to weaken as he couldn't hold it up much longer while still no progress had been made in trying to turn them off.

"Oh, now I remember!" Grandpa Joe stated as he hit his head. "I didn't put an off button. It'll turn off once the ghost is dead."

"Alright Grandpa, I'm sorry to do this, but you've really left me no choice," Danny stated as he concentrated. One by one, the ecto-guns on the bed started blowing up, Danny's eyes glowing brighter each time they did. Once the last one was blown up, Danny dropped the shield and fell to the floor, turning human again.

"Alright, I think that's enough demonstrations with the bed," Jazz stated as she helped Danny onto the couch.

"Well, I guess that means it's time for bed!" Maddie announced.

"There's no way I'm sleeping on that thing," Danny stated. He never thought he'd find an invention that he'd hate more than a ghost shield or the Specter Deflectors, but he finally did.

"But where else are you going to sleep?" Grandma Mary asked.

"The floor? The table? Anywhere but on the bed that wants to kill me."

"You could always sleep in the Ghost Zone," Sofia joked while the others chuckled. Danny however, was not amused.

"Danny, you can sleep on the couch and we'll put the beds far enough away so that if one of the shields accidentally goes off it won't hit you, right after we dismantle the ecto-guns," his mother comforted.

Danny nodded while he stood up. "I'm going to walk Sam and Tucker home. I want to see all those guns gone before I get back."

Danny walked out of the house and walked down the sidewalk quickly, hoping no one would run after him.

"I think you can slow down now Danny, I don't think they're following us," Sam stated "and I think you passed my house."

"Sorry, it's just, I need some alone time," Danny replied, slowing down.

"Yeah, I don't blame you."

"Wow, you're house is just like school," Tucker commented.

"I know. Home was the place I could unwind and be free of the gawking people, and now even that's not fan free!"

"Just relax Danny. They can't stay forever and a few days isn't going to kill you. They might be a little obsessive now, but just like at school once they're around you for awhile, things will slowly start to calm down," Sam comforted.

"Yeah, let's hope."

"So, do we have a new invention to add to the 'Worst Inventions Ever Created' list?" Tucker asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh yes, that one definitely goes on there. I'd take the Fenton Boo-Merang over that monstrous excuse for a bed any day."

"And don't worry Danny, we can head immediately to the news station after school tomorrow and start figuring this out. Trust me, finding out who set you up and blasting them to pieces before sucking them into the thermos will definitely make you feel better."

"Definitely, I feel better just thinking about it."

"Oh, and speaking of blasting things to bits," Sam remarked as she pulled out her copy of the DVD. "Care to take a shot at this?"

Danny's mood instantly brightened. Sam threw it up into the air and Danny blasted it, watching joyously as the fragments fell through the air and onto the pavement.

Smiling the three friends headed slowly off to Tucker's and then finally Sam's before Danny headed home. He opened the door wearily and was grateful to find the remains of the bed's defense mechanism in pieces in the corner. The house was quiet and it looked like everyone had gone to bed, which was what Danny hoped would be the case. He snuck quietly to the couch and drifted into uneasy sleep, both looking forward to and dreading the next day.

* * *

A/N: I just wanted to apologize if I happened to forget some major fact regarding Jack or Maddie's families that they might have included in the show. If so, please let me know and I'll try to fix it. And I realize I didn't mention Maddie's sister, but I didn't think she was too terribly important, plus I didn't see her as the type to rush out to Amity just to see her half-ghost nephew. I didn't think she'd really care. Plus, there are already too many people in the house anyways. But I just based the family members off of what I figured them to be most like. Hope they weren't too much of a stretch for anyone to believe! 


	16. Infuriating Situations

A/N: Alright, this note should be pretty short, since I really don't have that much to say.

I just wanted to thank everyone for their imput on Danny's family. I'm glad you found them all believable. I hope you still feel that way after this chapter! And for those of you who like the Fenton Portable Bed, don't worry, there's more!

Oh, and in two chapters the Master's identity will be revealed! It's official! I can't believe it's been sixteen chapters and I still haven't given it away...I can't believe this is already at sixteen chapters period.

Thank you so much for all your comments, support, and reviews! And if any of you are wondering, I project that there are, at most, ten chapters left. Hey, I never said this wouldn't be a long and involved story...

* * *

Chapter Sixteen  
Infuriating Situations

Danny jerked out of his uneasy sleep, his ghost sense going off. He sighed and went ghost, about to fly out of the house when he heard a short scream from the basement, cut off at the end by something, most likely the ghost. He flew down and looked straight at the portal, its glowing green light eerily lighting up the dark lab. As he looked he saw a human hand reaching out from the swirling mass before disappearing completely into the Ghost Zone. Danny's eyes widened as his thoughts flashed back to the room upstairs: there was an empty bed. Without thinking he flew into the Ghost Zone, hoping that the ghost would still be in his range of vision.

He entered the Ghost Zone and scanned the cloudy, green surroundings. He saw a small figure in the distance and sped towards it, easily catching up with it. He stopped short and almost laughed when he was close enough to recognize the figure. It was the Box Ghost, holding a kicking Arya in his arms. And here he had been worried.

He turned invisible and flew quickly around so he was blocking their path. He turned visible, causing both the Box Ghost and Arya to jump.

"Can I have my cousin back please?" Danny asked, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Never! For I, the Box Ghost, plan on using this human to create boxes for me, and once we have done that, I shall use their beautiful squareness to take over the world and put all boxes under my control!"

"Um, how do you propose that she make the boxes?"

"That is _her_ job to figure out, else she will face her doom!"

"You have got to be kidding me. That has got to be, by far, one of your worst ideas yet, and that's counting becoming the 'Mechanical Frog Ghost'."

"It is not! For unlike my other plans, this one will succeed!"

"I so doubt that." Danny's hands glowed as he shot an ecto-blast at the Box Ghost's face. As he recoiled from the blast, Danny lunged forward and grabbed Arya's leg, turning her intangible, causing her to fall through the Box Ghost's grasp.

"Get on my back," Danny instructed as he started throwing more ecto-blasts at the Box Ghost now that his hands were free. Finally he stopped, leaving the Box Ghost heaving in exhaustion.

"Beware!" he yelled as he flew off shamelessly into the depths of the Ghost Zone.

"Danny! You saved me!" Arya yelled as she squeezed him tightly.

"Yeah, yeah, don't thank me until we're out of here. If you thought I was unpopular in school, you should see how it is in here. Hold on."

Danny took off towards the Ghost Zone, able to find his way easily while Arya looked around in awe, amazed to be flying, albeit through a creepy dimension, but still, she was flying. Wait until she told the kids back at school.

They flew through the portal into the safety of the lab. Danny immediately turned around and shut the portal, not wanting to think how many ghosts escaped while it was open.

"Oh Danny thank you! Thank you!" Arya thanked, squeezing him tightly again.

"Okay, you're welcome. It wasn't like it was that big of a deal," Danny replied. An awkward silence filled the lab. "You know, you're safe, you can let go now."

"Oh…right," she replied as she hopped off his back and onto the cold lab floor.

"We should probably get to bed before the adults…find out," Danny finished as he was blinded by light as said adults flipped on the light switch. Obviously they had been woken up by the scream and their commotion in the lab led them to the scene.

"Danny? Arya? What are you doing down here?" Maddie asked as she lowered her ecto-gun.

"Arya was…"

"I was kidnapped by a ghost and taken into the Ghost Zone!" Arya yelled excitedly. "And Danny saved me! It was amazing! He used his ecto-blasts and turned me intangible and then we flew!"

"So not fair…" Elijah moaned while Danny felt his face flush.

"I'll say," Grandpa Joe pouted "I wanted to see the Ghost Zone."

"You went into the Ghost Zone?" Sophia asked in concern as she rushed over to her daughter. "Are you all right?"

"I told you Mom, I'm totally fine. Danny saved me."

"Yes but still, it must have been frightening. Did that horrible ghost do anything to you?"

"No. Like I said Danny—"

But Sophia was no longer listening to her daughter. Instead she was looking intently at Danny. "This is all your fault."

Everyone in the room looked shocked at her outburst, including Danny. "Mine? How is it mine? I was the one who saved her!" Danny defended.

"If it weren't for you she wouldn't have gotten kidnapped in the first place."

"Hey, it's not my fault Arya decided to open the portal."

"Arya would never do something as foolish as that."

"Well she did, just ask her."

"I just wanted to see what it looked like…" Arya muttered weakly, not lifting her gaze from the ground.

"That doesn't matter. That ghost came out of there looking for you and figured that it would kidnap my daughter to lure you into the Ghost Zone as bait."

"The Box Ghost? You've got to be kidding me. Doing that would require at least two brain cells, and the Box Ghost has two too few. Now if it were Skulker, maybe…"

"So you admit that being a ghost and fighting them puts your family in danger because some ghosts will use them as bait?"

"Wait, that is so not what I mean, and Mom and Dad shoot at them too; it's not just me."

"Alright, I think it's time we all go to bed," Maddie stated, ending the argument. "I think we're all just running off of too little sleep. Arya's safe, Danny saved her, the portal's locked, and we can all just go back to bed. Things will be much better in the morning."

The rest of the family nodded their heads and headed back to their respective rooms, Sophia giving him an evil look before retreating into the study.

"Danny, I'm sorry, for what my mom said," Arya apologized. "She just gets really grouchy when she doesn't get a lot of sleep, and she's really overprotective. But it'll all be over in the morning once she gets some more sleep."

Danny nodded his head as he lay down on the couch, adjusting his blankets.

"Hey Danny, can you take me into the Ghost Zone tomorrow?" Elijah asked.

"I don't think anyone should be going anywhere near the Ghost Zone," Jazz instructed "or the Ghost Portal for that matter. You shouldn't have even been there in the first place."

"I know, I just, wanted to see it. Grandpa Joe and Grandma Mary go on about it all the time. I just wanted to see what was so special about it."

"There's nothing special about it," Danny stated shortly. "It's round, it glows green, it hurts when it's turned on while you're inside it, and it should always stay closed so the ghosts don't get out. End of story." He knew he shouldn't be so harsh on her, since it was just curiosity and even Tucker and Sam were amazed when they first went inside, but he just didn't feel like indulging her right now. He would probably have to spend tomorrow catching the ghosts that escaped and now in his aunt's eyes he was the one that was in trouble for everything, regardless of whether he saved her or not. And no matter what Arya said, he knew his aunt could keep grudges, and this wouldn't be over by tomorrow morning.

"Let's just all go to bed and we can talk more in the morning," Jazz stated, sensing Danny's hostility.

The two cousins nodded and snuggled into their sheets while Elijah muttered "It's still not fair," quietly.

"Oh and Danny, thanks again for saving me," Arya thanked before she shut her eyes preparing to sleep.

"No problem," Danny stated, turning around in the couch, facing the cushions. He lay there, waiting for exhaustion to wash over him, but to no avail. He remained wide awake and alone with his thoughts. He tossed around in his bed, now facing the rest of the room and saw Arya sleeping in her bed, a smile on her face, looking like she'd just experienced the treat of her life. She was lucky it was just the Box Ghost. But still, why was she smiling? She was just kidnapped by a ghost, albeit an incompetent one, but it was still a kidnapping. He sighed as he realized it was probably because she got to be the first one in his extended family to witness him fighting a ghost first hand. She, like his other cousin, obviously thought his powers were cool, but then again, so did a lot of people.

_But not everyone_ the voice of doubt echoed through his head, and Danny couldn't help feeling that it was right. His aunt thought they were putting the rest of his family in danger, and Mr. Dickens…

Danny's mind drifted to the unwanted thoughts he'd been trying to block out since his conversation with his ghost possessed math teacher. He'd been focusing on Dash's revenge so intently so he didn't have to remember what had passed between them that afternoon, but now it flooded unwelcome into his brain.

_That ghost was just amplifying his thoughts and they have absolutely no truth to them. They're just Dickens' biased opinion on ghosts and they have nothing to do with who you really are _he told himself. Sure, all ghosts may have an evil nature, but he was different. He wasn't a full ghost.

But there was still evil lurking inside him. If he ever did lose his human half…he'd be exactly what Dickens thought he'd be. But that was never going to happen. Danny wouldn't let it happen. But he still couldn't shake the fact that it was there and that in truth, Dickens was somewhat right.

* * *

"Alright kids, time to get up and greet the day, and go to school if you're my kids," Jack bellowed, but nobody moved. They had all stayed up too late and had a hard time falling back to sleep after the night's events. 

"I have pancakes!" Maddie yelled from the kitchen, but still there was no movement. "I don't understand, even Jazz is still asleep. She never sleeps in."

"It must be a ghost!" Grandpa Joe yelled, his mouth full of pancakes.

"You know, Danny did mention a ghost that put him to sleep a few nights ago," Maddie pondered.

"He must've escaped last night!" Jack shouted, grabbing and charging his ecto-gun.

"They could just be really tired," Grandma Rose argued, trying to be the voice of reason. "Shouldn't we try to wake them up before we go jumping to ghostly conclusions?"

"I know just the thing!" Grandpa Joe shouted, running over to the beds. "If this doesn't wake them up, then they've got to be under a ghost's spell! I call it, the Fenton Portable Bed Alarm! It's designed to produce a noise only audible to human ears! It's loud enough to wake everything _but_ the dead!" he shouted excitedly, pushing a button on the nearest bed.

Jazz, Arya, and Elijah immediately sat up in their beds, Jazz jumping up so fast that she fell off the bed and onto the floor, all dignity forgotten as she rushed to cover her ears, the rest of the family doing the same.

"Oh God please, turn it off!" Jazz yelled, but it couldn't be heard over the high pitched whine emitting from the bed.

As Grandpa Joe fumbled with the remote, trying to think coherently enough to turn it off while his head was filled with the demonic noise, Danny slept on, peacefully, not aware of the commotion going on in the room around him.

Finally he pushed the button and the alarm turned off, their ears pounding painfully in the silence.

"Mary look, it worked!" Joe exclaimed proudly, noticing the still snoozing Danny.

"That is so not fair. I'm going to kill him," Jazz threatened. "Danny! Danny, wake up!" she yelled, shaking him.

He sat up and noticed everyone in the room staring at him. "What's wrong? What happened?" he asked, fearing the worst.

"You didn't wake up," Jazz replied bitterly.

"I'm not following," Danny stated, now confused.

"Your grandfather made an alarm on the beds that can be heard by anything but a ghost, and he decided to turn it on to wake everyone up," Maddie informed him.

"Ah," Danny replied, understanding what happened. Knowing his grandfather, the noise was probably extremely painful, and he slept right through it.

"I hate you," Jazz remarked.

"What, because I didn't hear the alarm? Hey, you didn't hear the Specter Shriekers when Dad turned those things on."

"That's what I should've gotten to wake you up!"

"Sorry, but Tucker and Sam confiscated that item, along with a lot of other 'dangerous' inventions."

"That's what happened to all those missing inventions…" Jack commented.

"Well, anyone up for pancakes?" Maddie asked. "And Danny, Jazz, you probably should get ready for school."

"School! Oh my gosh! I forgot!" Jazz yelled as she rushed upstairs to the bathroom, Danny following behind her. The Fenton children got ready for school in record time and rushed out the door, arriving at school just in time. The class thought Danny's tardiness had something to do with ghosts, which Danny let them believe. It was, in actuality, somewhat true…

The rest of the school day passed quietly, much like the previous ones had. There seemed to be a sort of rhythm to how people reacted and, as strange as it was, he was getting used to it. At least by now most of the students had stopped hovering over him and squealing in excitement because he was in the same hallway they were, or breathing the same oxygen they were, or whatever their insane reason for shrieking was. Obviously by now they had realized that he would be around them a lot, that and all the screaming probably took a toll on their throats. Of course, he still experienced his fair share of stares and glares, but those were a lot easier to ignore, and he was becoming good at it.

The highlight of the day was of course seeing Dash's diminished confidence and humble demeanor. Obviously his fun night in jail taught him something, for a little while at least. On many occasions he looked like he wanted to shout something to Danny, since he was the one responsible for the cruel joke in the jail cell, but changed his mind and stayed huddled with his friends. This caused Danny to smile, knowing that he got his point across and Dash probably wouldn't mess with him for a while. After all, he just proved that he could exact equal revenge without resorting to his ghost powers.

Unfortunately Mr. Lancer hadn't managed to get Dash expelled, though he vowed he wouldn't stop trying, but they all knew that it would most likely never happen. Shoving classmates in their lockers and rude comments didn't merit expulsion in the eyes of the school board. Although Lancer was making sure that Dash would receive detention for as long as he could and even prohibited him from playing in the next two football games.

Finally school was over and Danny was ready to storm the news station and demand some answers. Then he could find out who did this and start finding a way to deal, or at least find some closure.

On the way to the news station Danny was forced to fly out and take care of a ghost, promising to meet the rest of them at the station. Surprisingly, it was only the second ghost of the day, one attacking during school. Since the portal was left open so long he could swear he'd be plagued with attacks all day, but apparently not. Although, the day wasn't quite over yet.

Danny quickly fought and trapped the ghost in the thermos and headed off to the house, deciding to empty the thermos since it was on the way to the station. He flew invisible through the house, not wanting to deal with any family at the moment. He just wanted to get in, drop of the ghost, and head to the new station without any form of interaction.

After emptying the thermos in the lab, thankful his parents were showing his relatives the Op Center, he flew upstairs, ready to meet his friends at the station when he heard his aunt's voice from the study.

"Steven, I think we should go home."

"Why?"

"I just do."

"Does this have something to do with Jack? I thought you'd forgiven him for that backwash incident?"

Danny smiled. He wouldn't put it past his Dad to make someone like Sophia uncomfortable. She'd always seemed more sensible than the rest of the family. He always pictured his other uncle to be a lot like her.

"It's not Jack, it's Danny."

Danny stopped, not believing that he'd just heard his name. What kind of problems could he be causing? If this was about the Ghost Portal incident he'd already explained that it wasn't his fault and now that the portal was closed and would remain closed nothing like that should happen again. And even if she was still mad at him it wasn't a good enough reason for why they should leave.

"What about him?"

"Steven, he's a ghost!"

"So?"

"'So?' How can you ask that? Mom, Dad, Jack, and Maddie all hate and hunt ghosts, yet they're all willing to put it behind them just because Danny happens to be a ghost? Don't you remember that stupid oath that they always quote that we're forced to swear when we become ghost hunters? 'No matter who the ghost used to be, he is a ghost and is by definition evil and I will do everything in my power to destroy him and return him to the world it belongs."

"But Sophia, he's our nephew!"

"And he's a ghost."

"Oh come on. You've never really taken any of this ghost stuff seriously and now when it comes to your own family you decide you're going to strictly follow the insane oaths your parents devise? I mean, are we sure they're even right."

"Steven, ghosts are inherently evil, we've all studied it and we all know it, and even if everyone else doesn't want to admit it, I can. Danny has evil inside him from being a ghost and I don't want to know what'll happen when it comes out."

"So what, you want to kill him? Send him into the Ghost Zone? I guess now your comment earlier makes sense."

"No. I don't want anything to do with that. I just think we should leave before anyone in the family becomes the victim to that evil. Arya was already put in danger this morning, and I don't want to add anyone else to that list."

"Sophia, he's been a ghost for a long time and nothing's happened. He's a good kid, he saves the town, he has fun and has friends and family to watch out for him. I'm sure Maddie and Jack realize all this and Danny probably does too. They've probably got it all under control. Now, can't we just enjoy spending time with family that we hardly get to see?"

"It's hard to enjoy something when you know something might go wrong."

"When you _think _something might go wrong. You have no proof to suggest otherwise. I want to stay, and I'm sure Arya and Elijah do too. If you want to leave, I can make up a reason for why you left, but we're staying."

"Fine, but if anything happens, then you'll know I'm right."

"Yes yes, you'll be right, but nothing's going to happen."

Sensing that the conversation was over, Danny flew off, his head spinning. His aunt wanted to leave because she didn't want to be around him. His own aunt thought he was evil and should be cut off from the family because he'd put them in danger. She was yet another person that believed Dickens' theory.

Danny shook his head. He couldn't think about this, not now. He had more important things to do, like finding out who set him up. He couldn't go worrying about what people thought of him right now.

_She's just like Dickens, she doesn't know what she's talking about. Sure she may be a ghost researcher, but she's not _you_. She doesn't know what goes on inside you, and she's never seen a half ghost before. She doesn't know what she's talking about _Danny continuously reassured himself while flying off to the station, trying to calm his mind enough before arriving. He saw Jazz, Tucker, and Sam standing outside and landed near them, shoving the thoughts from his mind and putting on a cheery face.

"Danny, is something the matter?" Jazz asked. Obviously it wasn't cheery enough.

"No. Why?"

"I don't know, you just look…preoccupied. Is something on your mind?"

"I'm just trying to think of what questions I should ask, that's all. Come on, let's go in."

Danny led the way inside, Jazz following behind, still looking at Danny, knowing something was wrong, but she'd talk to him later. Now wasn't the time.

"Hello, how may I…" the secretary trailed off as she noticed the boy standing in front of her.

"Hi, I'm here to see the camera man that caught my transformation on tape," Danny stated bluntly. Everyone behind the desk looked at him, afraid of what might happen. They knew that Danny Fenton had every right to be mad at them and they all knew what he was capable of.

"Relax, I'm not going to do anything," he assured them. "I just want to ask him a few questions."

"I-I'm sorry, but that's not…"

"Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way," Sam declared. "Easy way: you give us the name and we go to the office and ask our questions and leave. Hard way: we fly around here, asking every person in this building if they know anything and find the guy that way. Either way, we're going to talk to him, but it'll save everyone a lot of time if you just told us."

"His name's Andrew Massey. Top floor, corner office."

"Thank you," Danny thanked and headed towards the elevator, taking it to the top floor, leaving the secretary breathing in relief.

The doors opened and they headed to the aforementioned office which was full of half unpacked boxes. The desk was slightly messy and disorganized and looked like someone had just moved into it and wasn't quite sure where to put everything at the moment. But other than a goldfish the office was devoid of any life forms.

"So where is he?" Sam asked, scanning the office again.

"Coffee break? Steaking out near my house? Who knows."

"If he was doing something like that the receptionist would've told us," Jazz remarked. "He's probably just out of his office for the moment and will be back shortly." She sat down in one of the chairs in front of the desk, Danny sitting next to her while Tucker and Sam sat on the couch near the desk.

A few minutes later a man walked in, his face covered by two cardboard boxes as he walked into the room. Another man followed behind him, his face covered as well. The first man lowered the boxes, showing his bespectacled face and short auburn hair.

"Oh hello how may I…" his voice trailed as he realized who was in his office.

"Who is it?" the man asked in back asked, craning his neck around his boxes. "Holy cow, it's Danny Fenton! Man, I was wondering if I'd get a chance to see you! How 'bout an autograph?"

"James, no. You can just leave those outside."

"Fine," he grunted as he set them down and trudged off. The first man walked over to the door and shut it, moving towards the window and stopping, staring outside. "I was wondering when I'd be seeing you."

"Mr. Massey?" Danny asked.

"Call me Andrew. Sorry about the mess. I'm just moving in; I got a promotion."

"I wonder why," Sam remarked sarcastically.

Andrew sighed. "So let me guess, you want to scream, rant, yell, and possibly maim me for recording you, right?"

"My sister won't allow it. Ow!" Danny yelled as Jazz stepped on his foot. "Actually, I just came to ask you a question."

"That's it?"

"Yeah. Who gave you the tip?"

Andrew took his glasses off and started cleaning them on his shirt. "Man, I wish you were here to yell at me. That would be a lot easier. I'm sorry, but I can't tell you."

"Why not?" Danny asked angrily.

"I promised I wouldn't, gave my journalists' vow. When a journalist promises not to reveal the identity of his source, he's bound to it. It's one of the highest ethical laws."

"You guys have ethical laws?" Sam asked, the sarcasm rolling delicately off her tongue. "Because I would've thought that ambushing a person's house, prying into his private life, and blocking him from getting anywhere were all unethical."

"Sam," Jazz warned.

"No, she's right. The rules aren't as strict as they should be and actually protect the informant more than the victim, but there's nothing I can do about that. I don't make the laws, I just follow them."

"Look, this is really important. We think it might be a ghost that gave you the tip. I need to know who it is!"

"I can't tell you."

"But it's for the good of Amity!"

"I'm sorry."

"Look, I have proof from another ghost that someone did all this to set me up for some bigger plot. They said this was only the beginning, and I need to know the beginning of what."

"I'm sorry kid, I really am, but I can't tell."

"Why not? Is some dumb ethical code more important than the future of Amity?" Andrew remained silent, opening and closing his mouth like he was debating whether or not to answer. "Do you know what that tip has done? How it's affected me? Sure, you get a nice new office and probably a nice new paycheck to go along with it, the job of your dreams. Me, I can't go anywhere without people looking at me strange, or gawking, or staring. People keep asking me to show off, to sign every scrap of paper they can find. I don't have any privacy anymore. People treat me different, not because I'm a hero or because I have ghost powers, but because I'm not completely human. My own history teacher, who used to love me, can't even look at me and my math teacher only just started acting civil towards me. All because of that tip."

"You think I don't think about that? Of course I do. I have to live with it every night I go to sleep. Anytime I see the news, anytime I hear people talking about you, I know that it's all my fault. That's why I need to keep this source a secret, to try to wash away the guilt."

"That source screwed my life over! I think I deserve the right to know who's responsible!" Danny yelled as a pen shattered on the desk. Andrew jumped at the sound and looked at the pen, but remained silent, returning his gaze to the floor.

Danny ran a hand through his hair. "Look, I don't blame you for all this. You were just doing your job and it's mostly my fault, but that doesn't mean I'm not mad at you. Am I angry that you were the middle man in the plan? Oh yes. And though I may not blame you, are you entirely blameless? No. You want that feeling of guilt to go away, let me set this right. Tell me the name of the source, let me confront him, know why he wanted this done to me and what he wants to do. Maybe I can fix it, maybe I can't, but I do know that if you tell me the name, you'll sleep better at night."

Andrew took a deep breath and faced the window again, staring at the setting sun lighting up the city below. "I don't have a name," he admitted. "It was an anonymous tip."

This time the computer blew up while Danny fumed with anger, his eyes glowing. All that trouble, all that work convincing him, and he didn't even have a name? They had gotten no where!

Andrew sighed. "I don't have a name, but I have a recording."

Suddenly Danny felt light with hope, like all the anger and frustration had magically evaporated inside him.

Andrew turned towards them, facing Danny for the first time since their greeting. "I recorded our conversation, being the dutiful reporter that I am, and though he told me to destroy any evidence, I didn't. It would be far too valuable and destroying it went against every feeling of intuition I've ever had. So I hid it, in a safe place so no one could find it. Give me a couple days to get it, since it's not exactly close, and you can have it."

"Thank you. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. Just, don't tell anyone."

"Trust me, my lips are sealed."

Andrew nodded his head in farewell, which Danny returned, he and his friends walking out of the room. "Oh, and sorry about the computer, and the pen," Danny apologized.

"Don't worry about it. With how much this'll be worth on ebay I can buy twenty new computers. 'The Computer Danny Fenton Blew Up', oh yeah, that'll sell."

"How about 'The Signed Computer Danny Fenton Blew Up'?" Danny suggested, walking over and signing his name on the remains. "Just to make it authentic, and to show my gratitude."

Andrew nodded another thanks as Danny joined his friends outside the room.

"Oh Danny?" Andrew called, causing Danny to turn around. "Is it too late to say I'm sorry?" Danny shook his head. "I'm sorry."

"Thanks," he replied with a smile as he and his friends headed towards the elevator, ready to go home.

* * *

Danny entered the house, surprised at how quiet it was. The only noise he could hear was the television set displaying the day's news while his aunt watched in bored interest. 

"Where is everyone?"

"They're all still up in the Op Center; they've been up there all day," his aunt answered shortly, either not approving of their obsession with the Op Center or not wanting to talk with him.

"Even Arya and Elijah?"

"No. They're out taking a walk."

"Ah. Well, that's good."

An awkward silence filled the room. Danny didn't know what to say to her and he knew she didn't want to talk to him as he recalled their conversation earlier that day. He didn't really know how to react around her, now that he knew how she really felt about him. He stood in the doorway, his eyes staring at the television screen, pretending to be watching the pointless news story about some woman's cats, the stuff they put on when they weren't busy talking about ghost attacks or displaying more about his life.

He had a feeling he should talk to her, maybe sort things out. That's what he did with Dickens and it worked out fairly well. Plus, she was his aunt. They were family. If he could just get her to understand then maybe she'd get over it. But before he could think of any way to bring up the topic, his aunt stood up.

"I'm sorry, it's prime time and you probably have a favorite show you want to watch and I'm monopolizing the television." She threw the remote onto the couch near him. "I'll just be in the study."

"No, I don't really watch tv. I don't bother getting hooked on a show I know I'm going to consistently miss. I actually wanted to talk to you."

"Talk to me? About what?" she asked, her tone making Danny feel like talking alone with him was one of the last things she wanted to do.

"I heard you talking with Steven this afternoon."

"Oh," she stated simply, looking slightly embarrassed, but generally keeping her level expression. "Well, what else do you want me to say?"

"I just want to know…why?"

"Why? Well, isn't it obvious?"

Danny looked at her quizzically, not quite understanding the obviousness of the situation. To him, it seemed far from obvious why she would come to such conclusions about him, especially after all she'd seen and knew about him."

"Danny, you're a ghost, and ghosts are inherently evil. It's like putting two and two together."

"It's not that simple," Danny defended, echoing the arguments he used against Dickens the other day. "Look, I've heard this speech before. I'm part ghost, which means that I have that evil inside me, but what you forget, what everyone seems to forget, is that I still have a conscience inside me too, and it'll prevent anything from happening."

"Well, then it looks like you have everything figured out."

"No, I don't. That's not the only reason you've been acting cold towards me, and don't think I haven't noticed. I don't think you've said enough sentences to me to make up a paragraph, and that's including the conversation we're having now. There's something else, and it's not that I might have some evil inside me. It has to do with me being a ghost in the first place."

"Of course it does!" she yelled, standing up and pacing across the television. "You're a ghost! That's what we fight! You don't think we fight and research them because it's a fun hobby do you? There are reasons for it, and it's not just to rid the world of the evil they cause. Do you know what ghosts did to this family? Are still doing?"

"Well yeah, since I am part of this family."

"No," she corrected, shaking her head. "You have no idea what it was like with your grandparents. They're worse than Jack and Maddie could ever be. There was no conversation outside of ghosts, there was no _world_ outside of ghosts, and if you refused to see that way, they chucked you out of the family and never spoke of you again! Ghosts ruined my life! They made my parents crazy, made me lose my brother, made me lose all hope of ever becoming anything other than a ghost hunter. They backed me into a corner, leaving me with no choices! The way my life is now is because of ghosts, ghosts like you."

"Now wait, that's not fair. I didn't do anything! I became a ghost a long time after all that happened."

"True, you're not personally responsible, not one ghost is, but it's the idea, the _existence_ of ghosts that's to blame. If ghosts never existed, then there'd be no need for ghost hunters or researchers. We could be a normal happy family, if only there weren't ghosts like you around."

"Hey, if I had it my way, I'd wish there weren't ghosts too. Mom and Dad might be normal, they wouldn't be attacking the town, I wouldn't have to worry about having ghost powers in the first place! In a sense, you and I are in the same shoes."

"No, I'm nothing like you. I'm not a ghost."

"Well as much as you don't want to admit it, our situations are similar," Danny barbed, quickly losing his patience with his aunt, and his temper. "I think that out of everyone I have the right to say that ghosts screwed up my life. I mean, they made me become one! And I have to deal with them too, more than any of you combined!"

"Well that's not too bad, since you are one."

"Can we just get past all the 'you're a ghost' comments?" Danny snapped.

"No. I've tried, but it just doesn't work. When I first found out, I can tell you I wasn't pleased and was quite prepared to sever connections with you. Then Mom and Dad got the brilliant idea to visit you, and I wanted to stay behind, not wanting to have anything to do with you, but I decided I needed to give you the chance, being my nephew and all. I tried to get past the feelings, spent time in the room with you, tried to immerse myself in the conversations, but I couldn't. The more time I spent around you, the more ghost I saw, and the more I couldn't stand."

Danny's eyes were wide, not knowing how to respond to her comments. She wanted to sever ties with him, never see him again, and she had no problem not only doing it, but admitting it directly to him, and without any form of emotion.

She must have seen the look of hurt apparent on his face because she turned around, placing her hand on her head. "I don't think you understand," she stated, turning back around. "I hate ghosts. Simple as that. I can't stand them. It's like a constant furnace burning at all times, especially now while I'm around you. My life was ruined, and the life of my family, all because of those monstrous creatures, creatures like you!"

Danny felt the comment stab at his heart. This was his aunt talking. He'd spent time at her house, she'd make them chocolate chip cookies and play with them in the pool, take them to the zoo, out to lunch, and now she was calling him a creature. He wasn't her nephew, he was an inhuman monster in her eyes, and she wanted nothing to do with him.

Danny wanted to fight, wanted to try to convince her otherwise, but knew in his heart it was useless. Unlike Dickens, she wouldn't be swayed. She'd had years to build up this hatred, and for some reason she felt fit to direct it all towards him. Nothing he could say would change her mind.

Yet through all the hurt, his brain was working overtime. The situation, it seemed so familiar, so like his conversation with Dickens. Suddenly, thoughts and ideas came crashing down on him as everything fell into place. Of course, how had he not noticed it before? All the rude comments, the blame, suddenly it all made sense. She described her feelings as a furnace of hate and she mentioned that it was burning brighter now, while he was around. But what if it wasn't his presence that was making her hatred and anger at ghosts more pronounced? What if there was something else fueling her anger, _infuriating_ her?

It had to be him. It all made sense. He knew his aunt had always secretly hated ghosts, but it was never this bad, unless she was being infuriated by a ghost on the inside, making her say and do stuff she normally wouldn't do. It explained her sudden increase in hatred of ghosts and, in turn, Danny and why trying to get past her feelings didn't work. He hadn't been that ghostly and had actually only gone ghost three times around her and for only short amounts of time and didn't show off any powers. How could she only see him being a ghost when throughout the night he was clearly showing that he was just the same nephew he'd always been? Unless she had a ghost inside her, making her only see the ghostly side and increase her hatred.

He knew what he had to do. It was the only way he'd get his aunt back. Once she was free of the ghost, she could start adjusting and things would slowly get back to normal between the two of them.

"You thought you could trick me, but I can see right through you. I figured it out."

"Trick you? What are you talking about?" she snapped.

"Don't play games with me. I know what's really going on, and I know how to stop it."

His hands glowed as he shot the ecto-blast. It hit her squarely in the chest, sending her backwards. Danny prepared to fire another blast for when the ghost emerged, but nothing happened. No ghost was pushed out of her back.

She wasn't being overshadowed.

* * *

A/N: I know, I know, evil cliffie. Expect a lot of those from now on. But don't plan on me apologizing for it...

Oh, and I have to credit V for Vendetta, once again, for Massey's apology. I just loved that line so much I had to put it in!


	17. A Family Torn

A/N: Sorry about the late update! I meant to put it up sooner, especially after the evil cliffie at the end and all, but I was camping this weekend with no internet or computer, so that made things a little difficult. But it's up now!

And I just wanted to give you all an _enourmous_ amount of thanks since last chapter put me over the 500 review mark, so thank you thank you thank you soooo much! I really appreciate all your support! Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine this story to be so popular, so thank you so much!

Also, on a side note, for those of you who are Tortured Truth fans, the summary for the sequel is now posted in my profile! But I must warn you, it does give away who the recipient is and gives a clue as to what's in the package...just so you're warned.

* * *

Chapter Seventeen  
A Family Torn

His eyes were wide with shock, realizing what he'd just done. He'd shot his aunt, his aunt that already hated ghosts and thought he was evil. And now, here was proof. He was wrong, it wasn't Infuriator. She was expressing her true feelings at their true strength.

"You-you attacked me," his aunt stated in shock, holding her chest with one hand as she recovered her balance, looking at Danny.

"N-no, it-it's not what you think!" Danny pleaded. "I—"

"I was right. You are evil."

"No! You don't understand!"

"Oh, I understand. I disagreed with you and you couldn't take it anymore, so you resorted to the only thing you knew: violence."

"That's not true! I thought you were being overshadowed!" He knew it was pointless to argue, but he had to. He had to fix his mistake. He had to find some way to make this all better.

"You don't expect me to fall for that excuse do you?"

"It's not an excuse! A few days ago there was this ghost overshadowing my math teacher, making him act angrier than he normally would be so I thought—"

"You thought I was being overshadowed by the same ghost? You didn't even think that I might possibly be acting on my own will? You couldn't even entertain the thought that someone may not like you, may not believe you to be the good little hero you pretend to be."

"That's not true! It's just…you're my aunt! You're not supposed to act this way! You'd bake me cookies and play Marco Polo with us in the pool, and now you're saying I'm evil?"

"Because clearly you are, otherwise you wouldn't have attacked me."

"It was a mistake! I thought you were being overshadowed!"

"What's going on down here?" Maddie asked as she wandered down the stairs, the rest of the family behind her, led by the angry shouts.

"He attacked me!" Sophia yelled out, pointing at Danny.

"No, that's not true!" Danny yelled, knowing that his bad situation had just become much worse.

"It's true and you know it, you just don't want to admit it in front of everyone else," his aunt spat back.

"Danny…is it true?" Grandma Rose asked, her face filled with fear and hope, hope that her grandson was still the innocent hero she believed. He looked at the rest of the family, the same looks present on their faces.

"Well, yes, but—" but that was as far as Danny could get before his aunt interrupted.

"You see, he admits it! He attacked me because he didn't like what we were talking about!"

"Wait, it's not what you think!" Danny pleaded, seeing the looks of horror on their faces. "That's not the reason why! I thought she was being overshadowed!"

"Oh, of course, the typical excuse."

"It's not an excuse! It's the truth!" Danny yelled back.

"Alright, I think we all just need to calm down," Maddie suggested.

"Calm down? He just attacked me and you're asking me to calm down?"

"I just want to get everything straightened out, and all this yelling and accusing isn't going to amount to anything."

"Or you just don't want to believe that he would just shoot someone. He is a ghost Maddie."

"And he's also our son," she spat back "and I'm sure he has a perfectly good reason. He's never just shot at someone because he wanted to."

"Oh I know the reason. He didn't like what I was saying to him so he shot me."

"That's not true! Look, earlier this week there was this ghost who was overshadowing my math teacher, making him say mean things to me, but I shot the ghost out of him, you can ask him if you don't believe me. So then when I came back home Sophia and I got into an argument and she started saying a lot of the same things, so I assumed she was being overshadowed as well."

"What kind of things did she say?" Jazz asked, hoping to sway the rest of the relatives who were all looking at Danny with horror and fear, obviously believing his aunt's version of the story.

"She started calling me evil and called me a creature saying she wanted to cut ties with me and never see me again, all because I'm half ghost."

"I was merely speaking the truth," she defended. "And look, I was right, he is evil, and he admits to not liking what I was saying which is why he attacked me!"

"Well of course he didn't like what you said! Nobody likes being called a creature," Jazz argued. "But that doesn't necessarily mean that's why he attacked you. I mean, I get insults throw at me all the time and I never attack anyone."

"That's because you're not a ghost."

"Oh will you stop it with the ghost stuff!" Danny shouted. "We all get the picture, you don't like ghosts and hence don't like me, but that doesn't mean that being a ghost dictates my actions!"

Danny looked at his family still standing on the steps. He felt like he was on trial with Jazz as his defense attorney, Sophia as the prosecution, and his family as the jury. He was trying to convince them that he wasn't guilty. He knew he'd never be able to convince his aunt, but maybe if he could find a way to convince the rest of them things would turn out okay. But if they found him guilty, if they found him evil, his own family, he'd be lost.

"Oh but you being a ghost does matter. We all know that ghosts are naturally evil, but everyone decided to treat you as an exception because you're family. They didn't want to believe that deep down you aren't an exception, you're just like other ghosts, and this is proof," his aunt stated as she pulled her shirt down, showing the family the burn mark left from the blast. The family gasped, seeing the tangible proof that their beliefs were wrong. He wasn't any different, like they wanted to believe, he was just like the rest of the ghosts, using their powers to get what they want.

Danny looked from his aunt to the rest of the family, seeing that they were believing her. He had to do something. He couldn't lose them too.

"Look, I know that it was a mistake and I'm sorry, but it doesn't mean I'm evil! I thought she was being overshadowed so I did what I thought I had to do to save her!"

"Oh, of course, save me, like you always do. Danny Phantom, always saving the day. But why do you save people Danny?"

"Because it's the right thing to do. Someone's got to stop the ghosts and since I have the abilities, why not use them to help people?"

"Or do you do it to take away the feelings of guilt for all the evil you've done or will do?"

"Don't you dare say that," Jazz reprimanded harshly. "Danny makes so many sacrifices saving this town and he doesn't do it just because of a guilty conscience."

"But how do you know? How does anyone but Danny really know?"

"So then how do you?" Jazz countered quickly.

"Alright, good point, but still, how do you explain all the good stuff mingled with the bad?"

"What bad?" Danny asked. He knew he wasn't a model citizen but still, apart from mistakenly attacking his aunt he couldn't think of any other action that could be construed as evil.

"Well, attacking he mayor, attacking civilians…"

"I've already explained that incident! They were being overshadowed!"

"Hmm, that just seems to continuously pop up, doesn't it?'

"Because it's the truth!"

"Don't you see? He keeps using that excuse to everyone to cover up for him when he can't control his evil impulses!"

"They're not excuses they're the truth! I mean, think about it, name one other time when I've attacked someone for no reason at all or hurt anyone when they were being jerks. This bully Dash at my school shoves me into my locker every day and I never used my powers to get even with him. Sure I put a bunch of embarrassing pictures on the internet and convinced the cops to let him stay a night in jail and think he'd be there for four years, but that's stuff normal kids would do! I've never just attacked anyone just because I could or because they were mean to me."

"Until today you mean. Obviously your evil tendencies are becoming more pronounced. Jack, Maddie, I'd get out of here while it's still safe."

"Don't even," Maddie threatened, a light seeming to turn on inside her head, shaking out of her shocked stupor. "You can make as many crackpot assumptions as you like, but I draw the line at suggesting us to leave our son."

"That's right," Jack agreed. "We've heard you out since you're family and all, but when you start suggesting we leave our son because of your insane theories, well that's the ecto-blast that broke the ghost's back!"

"He is not evil, no matter what you say. We've seen him do some miraculous things, none of them wicked, and we have no intention of leaving him."

"Forgive me, but didn't you two believe he was evil when you first met him because he was a ghost? But then, once you found out he was your son you suddenly changed your mind. I think you're a little biased on the issue."

"Or maybe you're not biased enough? You know Danny, you know he's a good boy, more than a lot of people, so you should know, just like we did, that he's not capable of doing evil."

"When a human becomes a ghost, a lot of things change Maddie, you know that, being a ghost hunter and all. Even if they're your loved ones they're still ghosts and are no longer the same."

"Come on Sophia, none of us ever fully believed that rule. If you saw Elijah or Arya floating down the stairs you'd have a hard time shooting them too."

"But she'd still have to," Grandpa Joe finally spoke up. "Sophia's right, that is part of the code."

"Oh please, you aren't actually believing her on the basis of the code? None of us ever believed it in the first place."

"Of course we do, that's why we swear to live by it. But Sophia's right, we were willing to make an exception for Danny, even if the rules stated otherwise because he was only a half ghost, but obviously the ghost half is stronger than the human half."

"Wait Grandpa, you aren't actually agreeing with her, are you?" Jazz asked in shock.

"I'm afraid I am Jazmine. She's got the proof and the code dictates it, and as good hunters we always follow the code."

"I don't believe this," Jazz remarked, her eyes tearing. Danny felt the same way. Now, not only was his aunt against him, but his grandfather as well.

"Grandma Mary?" Jazz asked, hoping to find someone, for Danny's sake, that believed Danny was innocent.

"I agree with your grandfather," she answered quietly, not lifting her eyes off the ground.

"Grandpa Harry?"

"I'm sorry, but I have to go with the scientific proof," he responded sadly, looking anywhere but at another living soul.

"Grandma Rose?"

"I'm sorry," she simply said, her eyes filled with tears.

"Uncle Steven?"

"I wanted to believe, I really did. I still do, but after everything… Sophia said something like this would happen, that someone would get hurt, which is why she wanted to leave this morning, but I didn't want to believe it. I thought it was just another crazy ghost hunting theory, but apparently it's not. I'm sorry."

"Elijah? Arya?" They simply looked at the ground, not lifting their eyes or making any form of movement to indicate a response. "C'mon, he saved your life Arya! He rescued you from the Ghost Zone!" But still, neither of them looked up.

Danny couldn't believe it, the jury was unanimous, and they were all against him. His own family, his grandparents, his cousins, they believed him evil, even though they all knew him, knew he would never even hurt the bunnies in his grandparents' backyard. But none of that mattered to them anymore. According to that stupid code, he wasn't the same Danny they always knew, and unlike his parents, they weren't able to see past it. To them, the Danny Fenton they knew was dead, and now he was some other creature taking his place, pretending to be him.

"Please," Danny begged, his eyes glimmering with tears "you have to believe me, I'm still the same Danny. I still like eating Grandma Rose's cookies and I still want to protect those bunnies in Grandma Mary's backyard. I'm not any different. I'm still Danny. No matter what the code says, I'm still the same."

His family wouldn't look up at him, their eyes never leaving the floor as they listened to Danny's plea.

"Please, we're ghost researchers," his aunt added. "We know what we're talking about. We spend all our time researching ghosts and their behaviors."

"And I'm a ghost, I spend all my time being one, so I think I know more than anyone about a ghosts' personality change, and I'm telling the truth when I say that there isn't one!"

"But there's no clear proof that you're telling the truth. We have years of scientific study to show otherwise, and everyone in this family realizes that."

"Not everyone, "Jack spoke up. "Maddie, Jazz, and I believe Danny, and nothing anyone can say will change that."

"How can you say that?" Grandpa Joe asked. "The code clearly states that—"

"We don't care about some stupid code," Maddie stated. "We don't need any scientific proof to know that Danny's telling the truth. For the past seven months Danny's been a ghost and apart from him running off at random times and having strange injuries we couldn't tell anything was different! Like he said, he acts exactly the same! And if he says he isn't different, then that's good enough for us, and it should be good enough for you too!"

Grandpa Joe looked shocked. "How can you just throw the code out the window when you don't like what it says? All ghost hunters must adhere to the code, no matter what. You swore by it when you became a ghost hunter!"

"Well obviously the code is wrong," Jack replied.

"Then you aren't ghost hunters anymore."

"If being a ghost hunter means that we have to abide by stupid laws that make us hunt our own son, then we don't want to be ghost hunters anymore," Jack stated strongly, staring down his shocked father.

Everyone in the room looked shocked to hear Jack Fenton, the man who had been obsessed with being a ghost hunter since he learned how to say the word, renounce the ghost hunting title.

"You-you don't mean that," Grandpa Joe remarked in shock.

"I do."

"As do I," Maddie affirmed.

"So you can take your stupid codes and throw them out the window, because we won't be abiding by them anymore."

"You know what this means, don't you?" Grandma Mary asked, her voice shaky and full of sadness.

"I do, and frankly, I'm proud to join Jerry on the sane side of the family. Maybe he had the right idea all along."

Both Fenton grandparents looked shocked and angered at hearing mention of their forgotten son, as well as sad that another son and his wife would be joining the ranks of the unmentioned.

After a few minutes of stunned silence where family members looked everywhere but at each other Grandpa Joe finally found his voice. "When I said you weren't ghost hunters anymore, I didn't mean for you to completely renounce ghost hunting. I just said it to maybe get you to realize what you were saying."

"Well, it did make us realize what we were saying, it made us realize that it was the truth. And nothing else you can say will make us change our mind," Jack explained.

Danny still couldn't believe what he was hearing. His father was willing to give up ghost hunting, his passion, for him. He was willing to renounce ghost hunting, which in turn meant renouncing the family tradition and in turn the family, and he was willing and determined to do it, all for him. But as happy and loved as that thought made him feel, he still couldn't shake the feeling that if it weren't for him his father wouldn't have to in the first place. If it weren't for his stupid mistake, his father wouldn't have to choose between his son and his parents.

"Aright, I think we should all just stop and go our separate ways," Steven suggested. "I think we should all just go to bed and leave first thing in the morning before we tear the family apart further."

"There's no way I'm going to sleep with him loose in the house," Sophia remarked.

Danny looked up at his former aunt, anger seething through his body as he used every ounce of control in his body to resist the urge to blow something up. It was all her fault that everything was happening and now, after everything, after she'd turned the entire extended family against him, she wasn't finished. Now she was treating him like an animal and wanted to go as far as kick him out of his own house as well.

"Well lucky for you, you won't have to, because I don't want to sleep anywhere near a witch like you," Danny insulted back. "If anyone needs me, I'll be at Sam's."

"Me too," Jazz replied as she followed Danny towards the door, unable to stay with the people she used to call family.

"Wait, you don't have to go Danny, you didn't do anything wrong," his mother replied before turning to the rest of the family. "If you don't want to be around him, then you're the ones who have to leave, because if that's the way you're going to act, then we don't want to be around you either."

"Now Maddie, don't you think that's a little extreme?" Grandma Rose asked.

"No, you believing my son to be evil enough to kick him out of his own house and never want to see him again is a little extreme."

"But it's late, we can't possibly drive home now. We at least need to stay the night before we can head out."

"I don't care. We want you out now. You have five minutes to pack before we throw your stuff into the streets," Jack demanded forcefully, indicating that there would be no further arguing.

The relatives walked to their respective rooms, Sophia walking to the study proudly and Grandpa Joe stomping up to his room in anger while the rest of the family walked away sadly, not happy at what they had to do, but knowing that it was for the best.

While they left Jack, Maddie, and Jazz enveloped Danny in a hug, not saying anything for they knew there was nothing they could say to ease the pain, but they just held him in warm comfort, showing him that they still loved and believed him, no matter what.

* * *

The invisible Skulker, who had been watching far enough away to avoid triggering Danny's ghost sense with the aid of binoculars gifted with the ability to see through walls, smiled as the scene unfolded. Another brilliant plan had been executed with great ease and only minimal involvement. How his master was able to design such masterful plans was beyond his comprehension, and as much as he hated working for him, it was plans like these that made him feel glad that he was on his master's side instead of on the other.

Deciding that he'd seen enough he flew back to report to his master, flying fast enough to the portal to avoid triggering Danny's ghost sense. The one thing that could screw up the plan was for Danny's ghost sense to go off, since that would possibly be proof enough to the rest of the family that there indeed was a ghost present that could've overshadowed their unknowledgeable pawn.

Once in the safety of the Ghost Zone he made his way easily to the palace, traveling the now well known path to meet his master.

"So, have you seen the brilliance of the plan yourself?" the chilly, deep voice asked as Skulker kneeled down.

"Yes Master. When you asked me to overshadow the Ghost Child's grandfather and suggest to the rest of the family that they visit him I never believed it would go as far as this."

"Yes, remarkable, isn't it? Now his own family is turning against him, believing him to be an inhuman monster. And the beautiful thing is that Danny did it all by himself, and he knows it. Let's see his 'wall of support' try to comfort him and help him out of this one."

"I must admit it was a very well conceived plan, using Infuriator to not only make the Ghost Child doubt himself, but to also make him attack his aunt."

"Yes, it is. I was merely playing off his own fears, as I've told you before. He has an inherent fear in not being accepted, he has ever since he became part ghost. And now his own family doesn't accept him and will sever ties with him and soon news of the attack will spread through the city, his aunt will see to that, and he'll be accepted by no one. Then he will surely fall, hard and fast, into despair, and my goal shall be complete."

"But Master, I must ask, how did you know his aunt would act this way?"

The brilliant mastermind cackled. "Why, you don't believe you are my only informant, do you? The amount of information I have collected on Danny Fenton would amaze you. He is in my hands and is playing unknowingly along with my plan, though there really is no other choice."

* * *

The family assembled quietly in the living room five minutes later, taking Jack's threat very seriously. Without a goodbye and without even making eye contact they turned around and headed out the door, into the night.

Danny watched them leave, not believing this would be the last time he'd see his family. No matter what they did he still loved them, still enjoyed the times they spent together, still enjoyed their company, but he knew they no longer reciprocated those feelings. They wanted him out of their life, all because of one stupid mistake. And now, he'd never see them again.

Before they loaded themselves in the car Jazz ran out the door, causing them to halt.

"Wait, you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone what happened here."

"What are you talking about?" Sophia asked.

"You can't tell anyone what happened," Jazz repeated firmly, standing her ground.

"Oh, and why not? You still want to keep up this lie to the public? They have a right to know they have an evil monster in their midst."

"How can you possibly be so cruel? He's your nephew! Your grandson! Your cousin! You can leave and cut off all contact with us if you want, I'm fine with that, but at least take the familial relations into account and keep this within the family! You've done enough already without ruining his life outside the family as well."

"But they have a right to know."

"No, they don't. They've been fine for the past seven months and they'll continue to be fine now. You've already caused him enough suffering and tore this family apart, please, don't tear apart the rest of his life. Let him have some people on this earth who still believe in him. Let him still have his friends, let him be able to go to school, let him try to act like a regular kid. If you take all that away from him, then you might as well kill him, and then we'll have to see who the real evil one is: the poor boy who made an innocent mistake that ruined and in the end took his life, or the vengeful aunt who ruined the life of and eventually killed her own nephew."

For the first time that night Sophia was silent, not knowing how to respond to such an accusation.

"Please, if anything, do it in honor of the Danny before the accident," Jazz pleaded, taking advantage of Sophia's weakening demeanor. "Do it in honor of the Danny you spent fifteen years helping raise and care for. Do it to show that you at least loved him, even though you may not anymore."

"Don't worry, we won't say anything, I'll make sure of it," Steven assured as he stepped in front of his wife. "You're right, we've already done enough, and there's no reason to do more. We promise, this won't leave our lips and will stay in the family."

"But—" Sophia started to argue but was silenced by her husband's hand.

"No buts," he stated firmly. "Jazz is right, and you know it."

Sophia looked down and climbed into the RV, succumbing to the request. Steven nodded his head in farewell and climbed into the RV as well, followed by the grandparents who couldn't even bear to turn around and look at the family they were leaving behind forever. Finally Elijah climbed into the RV followed by Arya, who spared a look back at the door, looking Danny in the eyes, her eyes red and puffy from crying. She mouthed a "thank you" and an "I'm sorry" before climbing into the RV.

The engine started and they headed down the street as Maddie and Jack hugged their son tighter as tears poured from Danny's eyes, unable to hold them in any longer. He watched as the RV carrying the family members that refused to love him drove out of sight before he turned intangible and ran through his family's grip and up to his room where he threw himself on the bed and cried himself to sleep.

* * *

A/N: There, not a mean cliffie. See, it is possible!

Anywho, I just wanted to say that I hope the reactions of the family were believeable and not over the edge. I have very good reasons for why all of them turned against Danny but since this is a Danny-centered story I didn't want to go into them because Danny doesn't even understand or know the real reasons, therefore they wouldn't necessarily be included in the narration. But if any of you are curious, I'm totally willing to explain them to you, including Jack and Maddie's decision to give up ghost hunting (which'll be looked into more in depth in the next chapter). So if you have any questions or don't believe a reasoning to be strong enough, please let me know and I'll either explain it or change it if it's a real flaw.

Thanks so much!

The Master's identity is revealed in the next chapter! Hooray!


	18. Depression

A/N: Alright, it's finally here, the Master's revelation. Hope it's everything you hoped it would be and more! But first, fun Danny angstiness!

And warning, this chapter is really long. After writing the fun pep talk stuff I noticed it was really long and I had half a mind to stop there and post it after that, but then I remembered that I promised I'd reveal the Master this chapter, so I just kept going. So, that'll explain why it's the longest chapter yet!

And just as a fun little side note, this chapter marks the 200th page in Word, which is definitely a big feat for me, so yay!

Thanks again for all the reviews! You guys are totally amazing!

* * *

Chapter Eighteen  
Depression

The next morning Jazz woke up and immediately called Tucker and Sam to tell them what had transpired the previous knight, knowing that Danny would need as many people to support him as they could find. Upon hearing the news they rushed over to the Fenton house, all thoughts of attending school completely forgotten, knowing that attending to their best friend was far more important. They had to be there for him, ready to help him when he was finally ready to talk.

Danny had stayed in his room all night and the better portion of the morning, only leaving his room to go to the bathroom. He didn't eat; he didn't think his stomach could handle any food. He tried to spend as much time as he could asleep, since in his sleep he didn't have to feel the pain that wrecked his heart. His eyes were red and sore from shedding so many tears and his pillow was soaked from his silent tears over the family that no longer loved him.

His family remained downstairs, knowing that Danny needed time to be alone. They didn't even go upstairs to tell him he could skip school; they just left him alone to sort out his thoughts.

Meanwhile they discussed how they were going to comfort Danny and convince him to move on with his life when he was finally ready to talk, while they tried to get over their grief as well. They needed to be strong for Danny's sake, to show him that they didn't care that their family had abandoned them and that he shouldn't either. He had enough to deal with in his own life without worrying and feeling guilty about how he had affected theirs as well.

Danny lay unmoving in his bed, curled up around a pillow, staring at the blank wall. But while his body was stationary, his mind was not. It was racing with a myriad of questions, memories, and alternate outcomes. Questions of what happened, of what went wrong. Memories of times he used to spend with his family, memories he'd never get a chance to experience.

He kept trying to tell himself that he didn't need them and that what they thought didn't matter, that he rarely saw them in the first place so it didn't matter as much that they never wanted to see him, but it didn't help. He still felt miserable knowing that now it wouldn't be the distance that kept them apart, but him.

What-if questions raced through his mind, contemplating different scenarios, different outcomes. What if he didn't attack his aunt? What if he'd thought the situation through? Would his aunt have still tried to corrupt his family against him? Would it have ended up the same way, or would he still be sleeping in the living room next to the Fenton Portable Beds containing Jazz and his cousins? What if he could've convinced his family otherwise? Was there anything else he could have said to them that would've let to a different outcome? Would they perhaps still be mad at him but not mad enough to leave them forever? Or was there just no way to convince them at all?

He kept wondering the reasons why. Why did his family desert him? Why didn't they love him enough to trust him, to believe him? Why couldn't they look past their job for him, their own flesh and blood? Why couldn't he convince them? Try as he could, he couldn't find a sensible reason for why they'd leave him.

He knew the reasoning for Grandpa Joe and Grandma Mary, or at least thought he did, but when he tried to analyze it, it just didn't make sense. They couldn't love him anymore because of their job, and he'd long known that their job was more important to them than family, witnessed by Uncle Jerry's harsh treatment for leaving the family business, but he wasn't leaving the business. If anything, he was carrying it on, like they'd always wanted him to, and he was doing more hunting than they'd ever done, and more research too. So why would they desert him based on their job? And if they were really as dedicated to their job and the code as they claimed they wouldn't have even given him a chance in the first place. But the fact that they gave him one showed they weren't as dedicated as they claimed, so how could they have kicked them out of the family based on rules that they themselves didn't always follow?

And Grandpa Harry and Grandma Rose? They had no reason to kick him out based solely on what Sophia said. They never even believed all this ghost stuff and were only proved wrong by their existence. But they still never treated all the ghost research and hunting with much credibility, so why were they now? Why now, out of all the arguments his mother and grandparents had fought, did they decide to believe it? Why now, when the consequence was leaving their children and grandchildren forever?

Uncle Steven he could understand, though not necessarily forgive. He knew he'd side with Sophia simply because she was his wife and it would be far worse for him not to side with her because it might result in a divorce, but what he didn't understand were his actions. Sure he agreed that this needed to stay in the family and promised to reinforce it, but it seemed like the only reason he agreed to it was due to Jazz's speech and had nothing to do with his feelings on the subject. And if he was just agreeing with Sophia to save complications at home, why would he have said such a long speech earlier? Why wouldn't he just sadly nod his head or say he agreed unless he really did, deep down, believe what she said and Danny just didn't want to see it?

And what happened to Arya and Elijah? They looked like they would've started their own fan club for him. He still remembered the look on Arya's face when he saved her from the Ghost Zone, the look of jealousy and awe on Elijah's face when Arya told him Danny used his powers to save her. They were like his little shadows, clinging to him, wanting to know everything about him, yet now they were perfectly fine leaving him forever. Sure he attacked their mother and they had every right to be mad at him, but they didn't even say anything, didn't stand up for him, didn't give any indication that they believed otherwise. But that's probably because they didn't. Their vision of him as a great hero was shattered, as was their hero worship of him. No one ever hero worshipped a super villain after all.

As he thought of all the possible reasons for why they would leave him, there was only one that made sense to him, the only one that would explain all their feelings and justify their leaving: he really was evil. It explained everyone's reasoning. Grandma and Grandpa Fenton finally found the justification in the codes they'd been following for so long and at that point had no choice but to follow it. Grandma Rose and Grandpa Harry had heard many times from his mom that ghosts were evil and now with the attack they finally saw all the proof they needed to believe that theory. Steven believed he was evil deep down, though he honestly wanted to give him a shot, and Arya and Elijah no longer saw him as a hero but as an evil villain masquerading as one.

In the end, they'd all seen what Sophia had seen: his evil side. They'd all seen that he had evil inside him. It was the only explanation for why they'd all turn on him, for why they all wanted to leave him, for why they all probably hated him. It was why his pleas to them seemed to fall on deaf ears. Everything he'd promised, everything he'd guaranteed they had already seen was false because they had seen what Danny had been trying so hard not to see, the darkness inside him.

They had all been able to see it, knew it was there without ever physically seeing the dark side like he did. They knew nothing of Danny's evil future and yet they still saw evil within him. Was he still destined to become evil? He thought that by stopping the explosion that he had stopped it forever, but did he really? Was it something that would happen no matter what he did? Was it because there really was darkness inside him like they all believed and he'd just been too deeply submerged in denial to notice?

But what about Tucker, Sam, and Jazz? They all knew of his evil self and saw what horrible things he was going to do, and yet they still believed him to be good, or was that what Danny wanted to believe? Did they still see the darkness lurking inside him like his relatives did and they just never wanted to say anything? Or were they also filled with denial and were thus blind to the darkness like he was?

And his parents, were they also too far in denial to realize it? Or were they just too swept up in parental love to even contemplate the fact that their son might be evil. Maybe Sophia was right, maybe they were biased against him, unable to see the evil side of him because they refused to see it, because he was their son. Their opinion, just like the opinions of his friends, really meant nothing to him. They were all too far into denial or blinded by their feelings for the Danny they thought they knew to really see the darkness inside him.

But if Sophia was right about that, then what else was she right about? Was it really the evil inside him that was responsible for the attack? He tried to think back to the few moments before he attacked and he realized it was pretty clouded. It all just seemed to happen so fast and the thought of it being a ghost overshadowing her came to him so quickly. What if it really was his evil side planting the idea in his head, convincing him that he needed to save Sophia from the ghost that didn't exist and thus attacking her to satisfy its evil urges?

Was he losing the ability to conquer those evil urges? To distinguish between what really was good and evil? When he was attacking her he didn't even consider whether it was evil or not, he just did it because he was so sure it was the solution. But if his evil side really did plant the idea in his head, then wouldn't his conscience have known? Unless his conscience had lost the ability to tell right from wrong. Had his evil side gone as far as to mess with his conscience, the one thing he always told others that was saving him? Would he always have a skewed view of right and wrong and end up doing evil without even thinking it was evil?

Danny buried his head in the pillow, trying to get the thoughts out of his head. He didn't want to think about this, but he couldn't help it. As hard as he tried he just couldn't help admit that there was evil inside of him, and his family members had seen it. As much as he'd tried to convince himself that he was the hero of the town and that he saved people on a daily basis, convince himself that he was good and would never turn evil, the fact still remained that he was evil. Deep down, he was evil, and no amount of good deeds or denial would ever change that. They were right, ghosts are evil, and he is a ghost and as much as he didn't want to admit it, he isn't different from them. He still had ghost inside him, and he still had evil inside him, and nothing would ever change that.

* * *

It was a few hours before dinner, and Danny's family was getting fed up with sitting downstairs, doing nothing, while Danny was upstairs wallowing in misery and doubt. Whether he was ready to talk or not, they were going to, and he was going to listen and start coping.

They walked up the stairs, promising they wouldn't leave the room until Danny got their point and showed some signs of cheering up. Jazz took a deep breath and knocked on his door.

"Danny? We've brought you some dinner," she stated, waiting for an answer, but none came. The boy on the other side of the door remained silent, hoping that if he ignored them they'd go away. He didn't want to talk to them, afraid of what they'd have to say.

"Danny, you haven't eaten anything all day. You have to eat something," his mother remarked in a worried tone.

He still remained silent, hoping they'd finally get the hint. They weren't here to give him food, it was just the way they were trying to get him to open the door.

"Danny look, we know you want to be alone and we've respected that, but we need to talk," Sam stated. Danny's ears perked up at her voice and looked towards the door. Sam and Tucker were here? Did Jazz call them and tell them what happened? It made sense she'd do something like that.

"Yeah, bumming yourself up in your room isn't going to solve anything," Tucker stated.

Danny knew Tucker was right, but he didn't care. Holing himself up in solitude wasn't going to solve the problem, but it sure made him feel better.

"Danny, this is getting ridiculous," his mother stated in a more demanding tone. "Sam's right, we've respected your need to be alone long enough, but now I think we really need to talk."

"You can't just keep all this bottled up inside, we need to talk," Jazz added after more silence emerged from the other side of the door.

Would it just be better to talk to them? He knew it wouldn't do any good but at least he could just get it over with. They really seemed to want to talk with him and he knew that they were anything if not stubborn. They wouldn't give up until they talked to him. They obviously thought they had something important to say that could help him and even though he knew nothing would help, he might as well make them happy and let them try.

"Fine," he answered weakly, saying his first word of the day, his voice choppy and broken from lack of use.

They entered the room, seeing Danny lying on his bed, propped up against the headboard with his knees to his chest, hugging a pillow between his chest and knees. His eyes had lost their sparkle and instead he gazed at them with dull eyes reminding them of a cloudy day. His hair was tousled and looked like he'd been tossing and turning around his bed all day.

Jazz, Tucker, and Sam sat on the edge of Danny's bed while Maddie and Jack brought in chairs for themselves.

"Hey Danny," Sam stated. "Jazz told us what happened. How're you feeling?" Danny simply looked down, not answering that one. They should all know how he felt. "I know, stupid question, but I had to ask."

"Look Danny, we've talked about it all morning and there are a number of things we need to say," Jazz began, presiding over the pep talk as usual. "We just want you to know that no matter what we stand completely by what we said last night. We believe you, completely and without question, and there's nothing in the world that can change that."

"Jazz is right. We're here for you, no matter what," his mother chorused.

"And we don't blame you for anything. You did the right thing, despite what they say. Au-, Sophia," Jazz corrected, unable to call her an aunt any longer "was here looking for an excuse to prove you were evil. No matter what you did she still would have pulled the same kind of stunt."

"But everyone wouldn't necessarily believe her then," Danny remarked bitterly.

"Danny, we can keep traveling to the world of 'what if?' but it's not going to help make what happened any better or less unbearable. What happened happened and there is no way to change that, so you're just going to have to get over it. You thought she was being overshadowed and had every right to believe that and you acted on that belief in the proper manner, like you did with Mr. Dickens. True she wasn't being overshadowed, but you still did what you should have done.

"And as for the others, you did all you could do, we did all we could do. At that point there was no way we would have been able to convince them otherwise. They had already come thinking it in the first place. Like they said, it was a test, and they were most likely going to find you guilty no matter what."

"But why?" Danny asked, the question he'd been wondering all day bursting out of his mouth. "Why were they already biased against me? Why couldn't they love me no matter what? They're my grandparents! My cousins! My aunt and uncle!"

Danny's outburst shocked them all, unsure of how to best answer the question because they were all unsure of the true answer themselves.

"They weren't thinking clearly," Maddie volunteered.

"They weren't thinking at all," Sam remarked bitterly.

"You don't know do you? You have no clue why. Well I do. I've been thinking about it all morning and there's only one possible explanation: that everything they said was right."

"Don't even think that," Jazz reprimanded. "I _never_ want to hear you think that or say that again. She is _not_ right and she never will be."

"Then why does what she said make so much sense?"

"Because right now you're doubting yourself and when that happens you think anything bad said against you makes sense, but you have to know that it doesn't! There are so many flaws with her logic, so many holes and errors if you'll just stop doubting yourself long enough to see them!"

"But why would I be doubting myself if there was no basis for doubt in the first place?"

"There isn't!" Sam yelled.

"Yes there is; we all know there is, and my future explains it clearly enough."

"That's not your future anymore Danny," Tucker comforted.

"How do you know? How do any of us know?"

"Because before today you've never doubted it. You told me once that before you fought your future self you swore you'd never turn into him, and up until now you've had that same attitude. If there really was a basis for doubt would you have been so sure then? The only reason you're unsure now is because of the lies she planted in your head!"

"Or what if I finally realized the truth?"

"If this really was the truth, than you would've realized it before, like when you were fighting him, or when you were talking to Clockwork afterwards. Trust me Danny, you're just filling yourself with doubt and it removes your ability to think straight. You know you're not evil and you know you're never going to turn evil. You've done so much good for this town, and I highly doubt you do it just to keep the evil side at bay."

"But if it's not that then why did they turn against me?"

"Because that's what they believe," his mother clarified. "They may think that all ghosts are evil and years of traditions passed down to them may say so, but it's not true. It's not because they actually saw the evil inside you, it's because that's what they've been brought up to believe."

"Trust us, we know what we're talking about. We were under the same delusion before too," Jack added.

"But then why could you see through it and not them?"

"Because we've actually seen ghosts and we know you. The only ghost they've ever seen is you and as such they have no experience with ghosts. We've seen plenty and we know what they're capable of, and we know that you will never be able to do anything like them. But they, having no experience, think that attacking someone is considered evil when really the real evil ghosts do so much more than just that."

"Think about it Danny," Sam proposed. "If you really were evil, would you hold back when attacking Valerie? Would you sacrifice yourself to save people on a daily basis? Would you fight ghosts instead of aligning with them? Would you stop plans of world domination instead of creating your own? Everything you do, all your actions show that you're good. They contradict what evil is."

"But there's still an evil side in me."

"Of course there is," Jazz stated. "There's an evil side in everyone. What do you think convinces people to rape or to kill? Ghosts have evil sides, and people have evil sides, but not everyone succumbs to them and neither will you. You've had an evil side long before even becoming a ghost but it's not nearly as strong as your good side."

"Remember that time you wanted to steal that video game when you were little?" Tucker asked. "You wanted that thing so much but didn't have enough money to buy it, so you told us you were going to steal it, but you couldn't do it. You later told us you didn't because it would be wrong to steal, so you didn't. It's the same thing now. Sure you'll be tempted to do evil things and granted those evil things'll be a lot worse than just stealing a video game because you've got nifty powers, but just like before you'll stop yourself because you know they're wrong."

"See Danny, just like the rest of us you're fighting a constant battle and you're winning because, to be horribly cliché, good always triumphs over evil, even in the mini-battles inside your heart," Jazz remarked.

"But what if I'm not winning? What if I can't tell good from bad anymore and unknowingly succumb to it? Before I attacked her, I didn't even think that what I was doing would be wrong, but it was."

"Of course you didn't, and were we in your position we wouldn't either. She was exhibiting all the characteristics of being overshadowed. I would've done it too," Jazz admitted.

"Not me," Sam remarked while the family glared at her. "I would've attacked her just out of what she was saying."

"I should have waited, made sure. Goad her enough to make her eyes flash or something."

"Danny, I'm not going to tell you that it wasn't a mistake, because it was, but it was a mistake that wasn't your fault. Based on what she was saying and the way she was acting it was entirely probable that she was being overshadowed by that one ghost and all of us would've made the same mistake. You can't blame yourself for it," Maddie comforted.

"It wasn't your evil side convincing you to attack her, it was your powers of deduction. You fit the clues together and came up with a reasonable theory. It was wrong, but just because it was wrong doesn't mean it was evil. That's just what your doubt wants you to think."

"And it wasn't even that big of a deal anyways!" Sam pointed out. "I mean, I totally beat the crap out of Dash the other day, does that make me evil? Shooting an ecto-blast at her did about as much damage as punching her. And it doesn't even hurt that much either, and we all know that. We've all been hit by an ecto-blast at some point or another. She's just playing it up, trying to make you miserable because she uses ghosts as her scapegoats."

"She wants everyone to think it's a big thing, including you, when in reality it's not, and were they around ghosts more often they would have seen that," Maddie added.

Danny stared at them, a ray of sunlight finally penetrating through the darkness that enveloped his mind. They were right, all he had done was shoot an ecto-blast at her. He'd done much worse stuff to other people and people had done much worse stuff to him too. Dash shoved him into a locker everyday and while he was definitely considered a jerk, he wasn't evil. Sure they had a right to call him a bully, but they had no real right to call him evil based on something as small as that.

Maybe they were just being prejudiced? Suddenly all his theories on his relatives seeing the evil inside him seemed to fall apart. They couldn't have seen the evil inside him from only one little act of violence. A punch from Dash didn't allow him to see inside his inner heart and seek out the darkness there, and they shouldn't have been able to see anything from his attack either.

While he by no means believed he didn't have an evil side, because he knew more than anyone that he had one, it wasn't overpowering him, causing him to do evil acts. It was as dormant as it had always been, just waiting for his human half to be released from it so it could take over.

"See Danny? It's all in your head. You're just making a big deal about this because you think it is a big deal, but really it isn't. Sure you hurt her, but in the end everything happened because she blew it out of proportions."

"But they're still gone, and they'll never talk to me again. Sounds like a big deal to me."

The support team was silent for a few moments before Jazz finally found the right words of comfort. "I know it's hard and I know it's not going to be easy, but you just need to forget about them and deal with it. They're not going to change their minds and they're not going to come crawling back for forgiveness. You just have to learn to accept and deal with that. They're gone and not a part of our lives anymore and there's nothing we can do about it."

"Remember when Val's mom died?" Tucker asked. "She was so depressed she forgot to be mean to us and even talked to us for a little bit. And then Paulina came over and asked what she was doing and then she remembered that we were losers and shouldn't be talking to us, but the point was that she talked to us in the first place and—"

"Tucker, what's the point of this?" Sam asked impatiently.

"Oh, right. Well, it took her awhile, but she started getting back to her old self and finally found a way to enjoy herself again. You've got to do the same thing. Sure they didn't die, but they're as good as dead to you as far as they're concerned, so you just have to be like Valerie and move on. Sure it's going to be rough, like it was for her, but you have to get back to being yourself again. And I'm sure the pain'll never go away, just ask Valerie, but you can at least try to mask it and eventually things'll get better."

"Wow Tucker, I'm impressed. That was actually pretty deep," Sam complimented.

"I know. I do have my moments," he remarked proudly, sitting up straighter.

"Yeah, once you stop rambling and finally make your point," Sam chided. Danny felt a slight smile grace his lips. This was why he cherished his friends so much. No matter what, they had a way to make him smile, even if it was only a little one.

Tucker looked ready to retort, but Jazz cut him off. "As weird as it sounds, Tucker actually has a really good point. To us, they're dead, and we just need to get over them and get on with our lives."

Jazz's inclusion of the word 'us' brought Danny out of his momentary cheeriness and reminded him of yet another reason for why he'd locked himself up in his room all day. Not only had he severed himself from the family, but he'd severed the rest of his family from them as well. If he felt bad about being distanced by his grandparents, Jazz would feel the same way, maybe even worse because it wasn't even her fault.

"But what about you guys? The only reason you're separated from them is because of me!"

The comforters sighed as one, knowing this was coming and knowing this wasn't going to be fun. Now not only did they have to battle his doubt, but his guilt as well.

"Danny, we chose this," his mother stated. "We realized that it was going to be you or them, and we chose you."

"But they're your parents, your brothers and sisters! You shouldn't have been forced to choose in the first place!"

"I know, but that was beyond our power. That was in their playing court, and based on what they'd said and their actions, they forced us to choose, and so we did."

"And never once have we thought we made the wrong choice," his father added.

"Besides, after seeing that side of them tonight, I didn't want to be a part of that family anyways. I don't want to be related to people who would just kick you out of your family as easily as discarding a gum wrapper, not caring for the consequences. Trust me, this was the right decision, and it's for the better in the end."

"But Mom, Dad, what about you? No ghost hunting?"

"Oh sweetheart, we aren't really giving up ghost hunting," his mother comforted. "We're just not going to abide by their stupid laws anymore."

"After last night we finally realized how bogus they were," his father clarified.

"So we're solo hunters now, not affiliated with the Fenton ghost hunting way, and like Jazz said, it's for the better. No, we're free to find the real truth behind the ghosts, and not just the theories passed down through the generations by ghost hunters who'd never even seen a ghost."

"Who knows, maybe we'll just start a whole new generation of hunters!" Jack shouted cheerfully.

"You're just trying to say that to cheer me up," Danny replied with a slight smile.

"So? Is it working?"

"A little."

"Look Danny, none of us blame you for anything," Jazz remarked as she scooted closer to him, placing her hand on his knee. "We're all perfectly fine never seeing them again, and that's the truth. And I know you probably don't believe half the things we've said tonight and have a load of depressing thoughts to counter most of them, but you have to trust us that what we're saying is right. You're filled with doubt and guilt and you can't trust your own thoughts; they'll only tell you what they want you to hear and not necessarily the truth. We're telling you the truth, and you just have to remember that. It's not the truth we want you to believe, it's not some truth that we don't fully believe ourselves, it's the actual truth. Your mind is in a world of grey right now, mixing the right and wrong together to create a jumbled mess of grey. Come back to the white, the real truth of the situation. Don't let it be darkened down with the black," she finished with a kiss to his forehead.

"We're going to let you get some rest and think over what we've said, and do think it over. We'll come back later to see how you're doing," his mother stated. Danny nodded his head while she stood up, smiling. "And Danny, please eat something."

"I'll try," he added while she smiled wider, kissing him on the forehead and joining Jazz near the door.

"I'm really proud of you Danny," his father gushed as he wrapped him into a giant hug. "You're handling this so well and I'm so proud of you, and don't forget that."

"We'll be back in a few hours to pull a traditional 'keep Danny's mind off the bad things with video games'," Tucker promised after Jack finally let go. Danny nodded and Tucker patted him on the back fondly.

"And don't expect us to go easy on you either," Sam remarked as she too stood up.

"Don't worry, I won't."

"Good, because that just takes the fun out of it." She patted Danny on the back too, but before she turned around she seemed to make up her mind and gave Danny a hug. "You'll be fine, I know it," she whispered in his ear before pulling away and hurrying out of the room quickly, the others following after her, leaving Danny alone to his less depressing thoughts.

* * *

A few hours later Danny was mindlessly playing video games with his friends, trying to put all thoughts of the conversation from his mind, though it didn't always work.

After they'd left Danny started thinking about what his family had said, realizing that they were right, like always, though it took some time for this realization to take place. Like Jazz had predicted, he had filled his head with doubt and denial after they left, but their words of comfort had helped him out and while he was still sad and prone to have bouts of depression and silence, he tried to keep the doubts out of his head and focus on the things that really mattered.

He wasn't becoming more evil and he wasn't entirely responsible for the attack. It was a simple mistake that his aunt had blown out of proportion. He had hardly even hurt her in the first place. He wasn't evil, any more than a bully at school was. And as for his family, he'd just have to get over it. Sure, this was the hardest part to accept and there were no really encouraging words to comfort him, but he just knew that he needed to, just like he needed to accept everything else.

But still, it was hard for him to accept that he was never going to see his extended family again. He could still remember all the fun times they'd share during their summer trips. Games of Marco Polo in the pool, trips to the zoo, playing tag with Elijah and Arya in the hot summer air and then going inside for lemonade and cookies, cuddling next to his grandparents during storms…

"Danny, are you all right?" Sam asked, her voice concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just, getting lost in my thoughts again."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

Sam simply pointed to the game station, which was floating off the ground.

"Now, I don't think it's a ghost doing that, since your ghost sense would have gone off, so what I really want to know is what's causing the game station to levitate?"

"Um…" Danny remarked. He had a slight suspicion as to who was behind it, and it seemed like Tucker and Sam had the same feeling.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Tucker asked.

"New power," Sam and Danny responded.

"New power," he repeated.

"But why?" Danny asked, sticking his hand under the still levitating game consul.

"Easy. Just like before, you're depressed, so the energy's giving you a new power: levitation."

"Oh, I think it's more than levitation," Sam remarked.

"What makes you say that?" Tucker asked.

"Because if you remember the game station was on the other side of the television."

"So? Isn't that levitation?" Tucker asked.

"No, that would be considered telekinesis."

"Same story, different chapter, who cares. Same general principle. So Danny, can you make the tv move?"

"Tucker, this is not a good time to—"

"I dunno, maybe. I don't even know how put this down yet, if I'm even the one doing it."

"We all know you are. C'mon, just try," Tucker goaded.

Danny stared at the television and, like with the explosive power, concentrated hard on it, willingly filling his head for the first time today with sad thoughts. Immediately the television started to rise off the ground, quickly dropping once Danny lost concentration due to sheer shock.

"Wow, that's pretty cool," Tucker replied, before he started floating off the ground too. "Okay, but that's not cool! Danny, put me down!"

Danny smiled, his first real smile that day. He finally knew how to occupy his mind, and it wasn't video games.

* * *

Jack and Maddie were in the process of taking all the pictures of their extended family and hiding them in a box destined for the attic when they head a knock on the door. Jack and Maddie looked at each other, unsure of who could possibly be at the door. They walked towards the door and opened it to reveal an auburn haired man with glasses holding a recorder in his hand. Instantly Jack and Maddie reached behind the door and pulled out their hidden ecto-guns, pointing them at the visitor.

"Oh no, no more reporters. Danny's done enough interviews and had enough press about him, so you can just leave him alone or so help me I will shoot this thing." She'd had enough with reporters and press. They were the cause of all the pain Danny was going through right now and she was going to do everything within her power to prevent another reporter from getting near her son again, even if it meant going to prison for her actions.

"Mrs. Fenton, I'm not here to do an interview. Danny asked me to drop this off and…"

"I don't think Danny goes around talking to reporters. Come up with a better story or just leave."

"It's not a story. He stopped by my office yesterday and…"

"Why would Danny go to a reporter's office?" Jack asked suspiciously. "He'd never do something like that."

Then it clicked in Maddie's head. Her grip tightened on the gun and her eyes narrowed. "He did go to visit a reporter yesterday, the one that blew his secret."

Andrew looked to the ground in shame. "Yes, it was me, but I'm trying to fix it. That's why—"

"Do you know how much you ruined his life? Do you know what you've done to him? And now you dare to show your face here? Well, how about we repay the favor? Jack, put him in the Fenton Stockades."

Jack's eyes lit up as he grabbed the misunderstood reporter and started dragging him to the basement.

"No, please! I didn't mean for all this to happen! I'm just trying to set everything right! Danny—"

"Will now be able to at least have some closure knowing that the man who ruined his life will be suffering. Maybe now you'll think twice before revealing someone's secret life."

They continued their journey to the basement, dragging him into the kitchen as Jazz started walking down the stairs, seeing two pairs of feet disappearing into the kitchen.

"Mom, Dad, what are you doing?" Jazz yelled as she ran into the kitchen, recognizing the man in their vengeful grasp.

"This is the reporter that blew Danny's secret," Maddie explained.

"So we're going to put him in the Fenton Stockades!" Jack shouted joyfully.

"Mom, Dad, stop! You have no idea what you're doing! He's trying to help Danny!" she yelled as she ran towards the trio, trying to loosen her father's grip on the reporter.

"What are you talking about?"

"He has a recording of the ghost that gave him the tip-off!"

"Oh," Maddie remarked as Jack released his hold on the reporter. "Well, why didn't you say so?"

"I tried," Andrew stated as he rubbed his arm while Jazz helped him stand up, her face filled with apology.

"Oh, sorry."

"Don't worry about it; I probably deserved that. Where's Danny?"

"He's upstairs in his room. Come on, I'll show you up," Jazz offered. "And just a warning, he's not in a very good mood right now. Something really bad happened last night, so it's probably best for this to be nice and short."

Andrew nodded his head, understanding completely. They walked into the room, Jazz rolling her eyes at the various floating objects while Andrew looked on in amazement. Upon seeing the reporter Danny's concentration was shot and the objects were either dropped or thrown across the room, Danny wincing as he heard a few crashes.

"Mr. Massey? What are you doing here?"

"Andrew remember?"

"Oh, right, sorry."

"But in response to your question, I have the recording for you," he replied as he held the recorder out for Danny.

Danny grabbed it, looking at it in awe. After all the trouble and pain he'd been through, this little device would help solve it all, help him finally get some closure, make him feel a little better.

"Thank you so much. You don't know how much this means to me."

"No, thank you, for your forgiveness. You were right in my office about what you said, and this is my way to repay you. I hope you find what you want on it."

"Thank you, I will."

"Good luck Danny Fenton," Andrew waved as he stepped out the door.

"Bye," Danny replied as he watched his retreating figure walk down the stairs.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Sam asked impatiently. "Push play!"

Danny sat on his bed, his two friends sitting next to him as he held the recorder out. He took a deep breath and pushed play.

"Mr. Massey, I have a proposition for you. If you want to be credited with the greatest news story of all time, then head to the top floor of the abandoned building on House Street with your camera this coming Friday around three and make sure you plant a speaker below the manhole just outside the building. If you do this, you will receive a story that will make you famous beyond your comprehension, and all you have to do in return is destroy this recording after you hear it. Don't disappoint."

The recording stopped there, but Danny had stopped listening a long time ago, the instructions washing over him as his mind stayed focused on the voice. Danny recognized that voice. It was the voice that haunted his dreams ever since he met him, that sent shivers up his spine and filled his heart with dread.

It was his evil self.

* * *

A/N: Wow, I can't believe it. I revealed it. After eighteen chapters of keeping it a secret I finally revealed it. I hope it wasn't too glaringly obvious! I hope no one's depressed! God, that would be worse than obvious...

Anyways, I also hope you liked all the pep talky angstiness in the beginning! It took a long time to write and plan it out, so here's hoping it turned out well!


	19. Future Troubles

A/N: God, I cannot even begin to apologize enough to make up for how late this is! This has got to be some kind of record or something... I am so, so, so unendingly sorry for how late this is! You cannot imagine the amount of writers block I had during this chapter! Nothing would turn out the way I want it. Actually, it still really hasn't, but I figured it was high time to just put it up as is. But you guys can flame me to high heaven for how late this is, because you deserve something for making you wait so long.

And I feel really horrible about the wait too, because you guys were so amazing to me last chapter! I mean, 75 reviews for one chapter alone...just...wow. I'm still blown away. Not only can I not express how sorry I feel for being late, but how thankful I am to all of you as well. You guys are just...amazing! Virtual hug! I feel so bad repaying your kindness with an extremely late update and a low quality chapter, but it just couldn't be helped.

But still, I hope you enjoy it. I'm still not that happy with it, but I think I just need to move on. I'll explain to you later why it was so hard, but I'll just say that this chapter is mostly information, which is always hard to make sound exciting and fun. But like I said, I still hope you enjoy it!

And I have some sad news. The writers block did give me time to figure out an outline for the final chapters, and I'm sad to announce that after this there are only going to be four more chapters left, unless I end up making the battle longer. But I'm going for four more. It's so sad! I hate it when there are so little chapters left! It makes me so sad!

Oh, and just a little piece of self-promotion. The sequel to Tortured Truth is now posted! It's called Tortured Revenge, and if you enjoyed the first one, please check it out! Also, I'm going to be posting a new set of "stories" (they're more like entertaining essays) discussing certain either important or random topics in the Danny Phantom universe. I call it, "Lessons in Danny Phantom Philosophy." The first one is going to be about ghost hunting and it's origins, brought up by this story, so if you're interested in the deeper meanings of DP and stuff they only mention on the surface of the show, please feel free to check it out!

And I should just stop giving up hoping the line thing'll start working...

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Chapter Nineteen  
Future Troubles

"Wait…that's not…who I think it is…is it?" Sam asked, her voice shaking. But the look on Danny's face alone spoke volumes, confirming their fears.

"But…but how?" Tucker asked. "Wasn't he trapped in a thermos in Clockwork's Lair? How could he get out?"

"I…I don't know," Danny finally spoke, still filled with shock. He just couldn't believe it. All this was caused by his evil self, the evil self that he thought he had stopped or at least postponed for awhile. But now? It was just too soon.

He always knew that he was going to come back eventually. It was just something he'd always known. One battle, no matter how painful, wasn't going to be the end of it. There were going to be more, but he had always hoped they'd wait a few years before they came, not a few months.

And now he was caught right in the middle of one of his evil plans. When he found out that a ghost was behind his unmasking he thought of all the usual suspects, thinking about what they'd gain from this and what they'd do to further the plan. But now, now that he knew his evil self was behind it all, he was at a dead end. He couldn't see what he could possibly do next. He knew it was going to be evil and he knew that he needed to stop it, but he couldn't see any way to know what was going to happen next. Was he going to go after his family again to secure his turn? Was he going to keep letting the revelation run its course, finally forcing him to become so miserable from all the press? The possibilities were endless, and he had no clue where to go next.

But still, how could this have happened in the first place? When he was listing ghosts, how could he not have thought of his evil self? He had all the reason in the world to make this happen, predicting correctly the misery he'd feel because of it. How could he not have seen this?

Because he didn't want to.

"So, who's the culprit?" Jazz asked as she entered the room, having just shown Mr. Massey out. She stopped suddenly, however, after seeing their shocked faces. "What's wrong?"

"It's…it's…" Danny sputtered. Jazz grabbed the recorder out of his hands and rewound it, pushing play, and gasping as she too recognized the voice.

"How?" Jazz asked in astonishment and fear.

"We don't know," Sam answered.

The room remained silent as everyone sat staring at random stationary objects, their thoughts filled with questions and disbelief.

"How could we not have seen this?" Jazz asked quietly, breaking the silence.

"Wait, what?" Danny asked.

"We should have seen this from the beginning."

"Mind explaining how?"

"Oh come on Danny, he's the only one who'd want to do something like this to you. He wants to make you miserable, that's all he cares about. And, sorry to say it, but you're miserable."

"Hello, I just found out that my evil self is ruining my life!" Danny yelled at her.

"I didn't say you didn't have a reason, I'm just saying that that's what's happening. He's been behind it all from the beginning."

"What makes you think that?"

"This tape, it has instructions where to video tape you, right?"

"Yeah but how did you..,"

"He sent that Hydra ghost. Somehow he's managed to find a way to get ghosts under his power even while in the thermos."

"If he's still in the thermos."

"The point is that he set up the ghost and told Mr. Massey where to plant the mike because he knew that revealing your secret would make you miserable due to all the press and because, let's face it, it is your biggest fear," Jazz explained, now pacing about the room madly as everything fell into place. "Then he let it simmer, letting the fandom do it's job, and then he struck again by hiring Infuriator to overshadow Mr. Dickens to make you even more miserable, feeding off your insecurity at being half ghost. And he had to have something with what just happened with Sophia. It can't be just a coincidence, and ever since they walked through the door I'd been trying to figure out why they'd join together and come here anyways. He must have influenced them to come somehow and must have known that Sophia would be a jerk and then hoped you'd fill in the rest by attacking her. Don't you see? It all makes sense!"

"Good, fine, it all makes sense. That doesn't help me."

"Well, I never said it would help."

"Great," Danny sighed as he plopped onto his bed.

Jazz sat down next to him, wrapping her arm around his shoulder. "Don't worry Danny, everything's going to be fine. You beat him once, and you'll do it again."

"But that's just the thing! The only reason I beat him last time was out of luck and surprise because he wasn't expecting the Ghostly Wail. This time, he'll be expecting it."

"But this time it's different. This time, you're more experienced and—"

"And he's even angrier than before."

"And you've got more advantages than before," Jazz finished sternly. "You've got Mom and Dad to help you this time, plus Valerie, and Vlad if you use up that deal, and you've got your two new powers, all of which he's not expecting. You've got the upper hand. Is it going to be hard, yes, but you have to do it. You don't know what else he's planning on doing."

"I know, but that doesn't mean I'm looking forward to it," Danny answered with a slight smile.

"I know," Jazz comforted. "Come on, let's go downstairs. Mom and Dad are going to want to hear this."

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Skulker cursed to himself as he stood watch outside the home of the Ghost Child's aunt and uncle. For the past day he'd been watching them, waiting for them to go to the news with their story, but no such luck. There were many heated arguments about it, oh yes, the aunt had gotten very close, but for some reason she'd reach the door and then turn around. It had something to do with the Ghost Child's infernal sibling. She had said something to them the morning they were leaving, though he couldn't hear what, but it obviously convinced them to keep the attack within the confines of the family. This wouldn't please his Master, not at all. Most masterminds don't like to hear that their plan failed because they underestimated a teenage girl, especially when said teenage girl is their sister.

He debated overshadowing the aunt and making her tell the paper, but that would lead to suspicions as to the previous accusation of overshadowing, accusations that could not be doubted. She needed to do it on her own and now, thanks to Jazz, she wouldn't.

Finally he took a deep breath and headed back to Amity, ready to report the bad news to his Master. But, as a bit of good news, he decided to check in on their victim, see how miserable he was. Telling his Master of the Ghost Child's suffering and misery would surely cheer him up after the bad news he was bringing.

He arrived in Amity a few hours later, taking his usual position and peering into the Ghost Child's room, only to find he wasn't there. Strange, the Ghost Child should be in his room pouting and wallowing in misery. He searched through the rest of the house, finally finding him walking down the stairs, his friends and sister surrounding him. Well, he certainly looked depressed, and scared as well. Perhaps they finally were able to pull him out of his room for the first time for some sappy human pep talk. Either way, it was going to be good, and the amount of misery he'd be able to collect was going to be worth it.

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Danny walked downstairs, the first time in almost twenty-four hours. It seemed strange to think that twenty-four hours ago he was arguing with his aunt and his family for their love. Thinking back, it seemed almost…trivial. He was so busy worrying about convincing his family of his innocent intentions that he wasn't even thinking about the ghost that really was responsible for all his pain in the first place. Knowing now that his evil self was behind everything just made everything else seem so…minor, so unimportant. Everything that had happened in the week since his identity was revealed, all his problems, all his pain, all was in reality nothing compared to what he knew was in store for him next. He knew, better than anyone, that his evil plan would only progress in pain and misery, because that's what he'd do…

He walked into the living room, smiling at his parents. They were sitting in front of the television, watching some hospital show about a doctor with a cane as they rearranged the family albums, taking out all the pictures with their former relatives and throwing them into a box.

"Mom, Dad, we need to talk."

They looked at the stairs and immediately stood up, trying to cover up what they were doing.

"Oh Danny! We, uh, weren't expecting you to come out of your room so soon!" Maddie remarked nervously as she kicked the box of photographs beneath the table.

"Don't worry about it," he assured with a smile. "But we do need to talk."

"About what sweetheart?"

Danny sighed. "My evil self."

"Danny, we already told you, you're not going to turn into him. You—"

"No, not that," he interrupted. "The ghost that's doing all this, that revealed my secret, it's my evil self." He felt strange telling it to his parents, like he was confirming once and for all that it really was him.

"He's the one?" his mom asked, her eyes wide.

"Yeah, we just heard him on the recording."

"Galloping Ghosts," Jack deadpanned, falling back down onto the couch, crushing a few pictures on the way down.

Maddie rushed over to her son, wrapping him in a hug. "Don't worry sweetheart, we'll work through this. We're here for you and we'll help you. You won't have to fight him alone this time. We're all here for you, and we'll help you."

"But how are we supposed to fight him?" Danny asked. "He's supposed to still be in the thermos, and if he escaped Clockwork would have told me."

"So what are you saying, that he orchestrated all this from inside the thermos?" Maddie asked.

"I guess. It's the only thing that makes sense. We already know Skulker's working for him. He could be his contact to the outside world, running all his errands, sending out the other ghosts to do his bidding. And if that's the case he'll just keep setting up these torturous situations without any involvement at all. There's no way to beat him."

"Sure there is! We just find this Skulker!" Jack shouted happily as he stood up in excitement, pictures attached to his bottom.

"You're father's right, for once," Maddie agreed. "If we take away his contact he has no other way to affect the outside world."

"Until he finds a new one," Danny argued.

"Then we'll get him too."

"Danny, the odds of another ghost going far enough into Clockwork's lair to reach your evil self is very rare. It's amazing Skulker even got in there without Clockwork knowing," Sam comforted.

"That's just the thing. Clockwork should know if Skulker's in his lair, whether he snuck in or not. He should know about it before it even happens; he's the Master of Time for crying out loud! It's just…unnerving. There are way too many holes, too many things that don't make sense, and I don't like it."

"You can't give up," his mother assured. "Sure, there are a lot of holes and problems, but we'll figure them out and stop this. We will find a way," she stressed, emphasizing every word. "We'll make him remember what his family is capable of once they put their minds to it. Now, here's what we have to do…"

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Skulker nearly dropped his binoculars after hearing the Ghost Child's announcement. He knew his Master was behind this. He wasn't supposed to know, at all. That was the plan. This was not going to go well at all. He had hoped to receive good news from his trip to the Fenton home, but now all he received was another piece of bad, albeit important, news. Their plan was falling apart and two important pieces had fallen out of place. This was not going to be pretty.

Deciding he didn't need to hear any more of the family's reassuring comments to their half ghost son, Skulker flew quickly through the house and into the portal, heading to Clockwork's lair.

As he flew though the Ghost Zone, he found himself wondering why he had involved himself in the first place. Was this all really worth it? When he had met the Ghost Child's future self he was shocked to find out that such a future existed for the heroic halfa, but he should have turned back when he had the chance, before he got interested, before he heard about his future.

It was Dan Phantom's (as he preferred to be called) promise that made him stay. He had foolishly asked about his future and Dan had proudly told him that he would both ruin not only the Ghost Zone but the human world as well, wrecking not only Skulker's future, but the future of the rest of the ghosts in the Ghost Zone as well. But he promised that if he helped him exact his revenge he would be lenient and refrain from destroying his lair. Of course he had leapt at the offering, realizing there was nothing else for him, and thus had entered into this bond of servitude.

Had he known that exacting revenge on the Ghost Child meant eventually turning him evil he would never have agreed. If he didn't help he wouldn't turn, and thus he wouldn't need a guarantee of protection from the most powerful ghost that ever lived, but it was hard to realize such things when floating near a ghost so powerful and commanding. Even his voice inspired great fear, and Skulker was hardly an easy scare.

He arrived at Clockwork's lair and took a deep breath, knowing that he most likely wasn't going to survive after telling his Master this news, but he knew he was definitely a goner if he didn't so he made his way into the long, dark hallway, reaching the familiar darkened wall that he had grown so used to kneeling before.

"Well Skulker, what do you have to report?"

"Unfortunately only bad news," Skulker replied, bracing himself for the wrath.

"Bad news? How could there possibly be bad news in such a brilliant plan?" he asked viciously.

Skulker shrunk, taking deep breaths before continuing. "Master, the plan has failed."

"Impossible," he thundered.

"The pawn, she did not and will not tell the public of her attack."

"And why not?" he demanded, his anger echoing through the dark corridor.

"Something the Ghost Child's sister said to them, begging them to keep it in the family."

Skulker heard a large, metallic pound of anger. "Of course Jazz would interfere, she always does. And it's no use to wait for the aunt to change her mind. Jazz always was a sweet talker."

"I'm sorry Master, there was nothing I could do without blowing my cover."

"Well, we need another move," he started to plan, ignoring Skulker's apology. "One that will create the same effect but without depending on another person…"

"But Master, I thought that was the only way."

"No, that was the best way. You honestly think me fool enough to only design one plan without a back up, especially for such an important piece in the grand scheme!" he roared as Skulker cowered.

"No Master, I didn't mean that, I just meant—"

"Save it. I do not care for your excuses. This idea, though less opportune, will still work, and maybe slightly better, though the risks may be greater…"

"Master, I have something more to tell you," Skulker informed him meekly.

"Is this going to be another comment on how ill conceived my plans are?" he challenged. "Because I can and will go back on my promise at any moment."

"No no, of course not, it's just…I overheard something at the Fenton house."

"Oh really?" he asked, his sarcasm tipped with venom. "And what could that possibly be."

"The Ghost Child knows you're behind this."

Silence surrounded the hallway, Skulker fearing for his safety. Silence, by far, was worse than an outburst.

"How," he demanded, the fury sending shivers up the Ghost Hunter's spine.

"The reporter, he never destroyed the tape, and he gave it to the Ghost Child."

"The fool! He _shall_ be dealt with, and most readily and painfully. He will _wish_ he destroyed the tape as I asked."

It took every ounce of courage Skulker possessed to remain in the hallway. He could feel the rage emanating from the darkness, able to see the suffering of the reporter in his venomous tone.

"Now that Danny knows it's me he'll be constantly on the lookout for my tricks to make him miserable, making it that much more difficult to turn him. He'll know that if something unfortunate happens I'll be the one behind it, and he'll know to fight the misery. Unless…unless I can find a way to make him completely miserable…" he trailed off, his evil mind plotting. "And I think I know just the thing. Of course, all our other plans shall be scrapped in the process, but I believe this will work exceptionally well, and it should make up for your previous mistake. Skulker, step closer."

Skulker looked nervous but rose and walked closer, hiding a gasp as he saw, in the darkness, nothing more than a Fenton Thermos. The entire time, his Master had been trapped in the thermos?

"I trust you are surprised to see me in such a lowly and pathetic prison. I must admit it was a foolish underestimation on my behalf, but no matter. In a matter of seconds I shall be free."

"How?"

"How? Though your assistance of course. Release me."

"I don't know how."

"Find a way," he threatened, his voice dripping with poison. Fear overwhelmed Skulker and, against all his better judgments, he opened the lid, fiddling with the buttons until at last the opening of the thermos glowed, emptying its contents into the darkened hallway.

Dan Phantom flew out in triumph, stretching and relishing in the open space. Skulker stared at his back, regretting what he'd done. He'd just opened the door to Hell and released the devil himself back into the world.

He turned around to face his minion, his blood red eyes cherishing the petrified look on Skulker's face as he beheld him in all his evil and malicious glory. He narrowed his eyes and pulled his hands back, a large and blindingly bright aura of green light appearing around them. He pointed them at Skulker and shot, the force of the blast slamming him painfully into the wall, the crack of the brick resounding through the castle.

Skulker dropped to the floor, his hands wrapped around his chest as he used all the self control he possessed not to show his weakness and scream out in pain. He'd never felt anything hit him so hard, both in his life and afterlife, and that was only a standard ecto-blast. What had he done?

"That was both punishment for doubting my plan and a reminder to never do something so foolish again. Come, we have work to do in the world of the living," he announced with a malevolent grin before flying out of Clockwork's lair in triumph, Skulker following reluctantly behind him.

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Danny, his family, and his friends surrounded the coffee table, plotting over a map of the Ghost Zone.

"So, are we all clear on the plan?" Maddie asked, closing her pointer pen.

They nodded their heads. The plan was quite simple, in all its brilliance. The goal was to first rally their allies, including Vlad, Valerie, and Dora before heading to Clockwork's lair. There, the others would surround the outside while Danny would search out Clockwork and ask him to fill in the holes, or more specifically, how he could let his evil self plot all this without his knowledge. Then they'd find his evil self, hopefully with Clockwork by their side, and find some way to keep him in solitude, and permanently.

"Alright then, Jazz and I will head to Valerie's and explain the situation to her. Danny, you go to Vlad's, and the rest of you, ready the Specter Speeder and get the weapons together," Maddie instructed.

They all stood up, Danny, Tucker, and Jack heading to the basement while Jazz and Maddie headed to the door. Sam was about to make her way to the basement with the rest when she turned towards the television, her eyes wide with shock and horror.

"Umm, Danny?" Sam asked, still staring at the television, fear coloring her voice. "I don't think we need to go looking for him."

"Why not?" Danny asked, turning to face her.

"I think he's found us," she responded as she pointed to the television, which no longer displayed the medical television show, but a live news report of a ghost attack downtown, starring his evil self.

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A/N: Alright, so now that you've read the chapter, reasons why it was so difficult. First, Danny's reaction, I just had writers block on that part for the better part of a week, no joke. Seriously, there were days where I could only get a sentence a day written. It was that bad. And then once that ended I kept wanting to go deeper into stuff, but then I'd have to remind myself that it needed to be saved for a later chapter, which is why it was kind of only surface deep, which really bothers me since I'm very much into deep, psychological analyses. And Dan, it just took awhile to get him down right, because now that everyone knows it's him when he talks, it makes it a whole lot more difficult to write him! Also, I spent forever trying to structrue this chapter out, since there's a lot of differeing viewpoints I needed to cover to relay all the necessary information for the upcoming chapter, which, I_ promise_, will totally make up for what this chapter lacked!

So...here's hoping it wasn't too terribly horrible!

Four more and counting...I think I'm going to cry...


	20. Red and Green

A/N: (hangs head in shame) I…I can't even begin to find the words to apologize for how late this is… I just… (sigh) How about I just move on to the chapter, maybe I'll feel better by the end…

* * *

Chapter Twenty  
Red and Green

Danny stared in shock at the television, unable to pull his eyes away from the terror, the frightening reality it showed. There he was, his evil self, releasing what had become known as Phantom's signature Ghostly Wail at the nearby buildings and civilians with a satisfactory and twisted smile on his face while the people looked on in horror. The banner across the bottom of the screen simply read "Danny Phantom?" because that's all it needed to say. Even the continuous commentary from the anchorman was unnecessary; the wail and the symbol on his powerful chest were enough for the people to figure it out.

It was more terrifying than seeing his revelation on the television, more terrifying than knowing that the press conference starring him was watched on almost every television in the world. Now, the world saw what he had wanted to keep hidden from everyone, including himself, for so long. They all saw what he could possibly become, and everyone would soon feel the same way Dickens, his aunt, and the rest of his family felt in regards to him. They would all see him as an evil ghost, and this was all the proof they needed.

He couldn't pull himself away from the screen. He was mesmerized by the figure that had constantly haunted his dreams, the figure that sought to ruin his life, the figure that could kill everyone and destroy everything at the drop of a hat. The flaming white hair, the muscular build, the radiation of pure power, the malicious grin, the blood red eyes, all held him transfixed to the screen.

He wanted to wake up, to find himself asleep in his bedroom before he even heard the recording and knew Dan was behind everything. He'd even take finding himself napping on the couch while planning out their venture into the Ghost Zone. Dan would still be the cause, but at least then he wouldn't necessarily be free, harassing and destroying the town. He wanted everything to be a dream, but the longer he stared at the screen the more he realized he would never wake up, that this was reality, that this was actually happening, and that knowledge petrified him more than anything.

"Is…is that…him?" Maddie asked, the shared feeling of shock, horror, and terror present in her voice as well.

Danny turned around, seeing his entire family staring transfixed at the television screen, just as he was, their expressions mirroring his own. He merely nodded. He was actually confirming it. It was him.

"Danny, what are you going to do?" Jazz asked, tearing herself away from the television and looking intently at Danny.

"There's only one thing to do," he announced as he went ghost. "I have to stop him."

"Danny, you can't go rushing out there without thinking this through," Maddie warned. "I forbid it."

"I don't have any other choice. I have to save them and I have to protect them. I swore that I would."

"At least let us round up our allies like we had planned, that way you're not on your own," Maddie pleaded.

"She does have a point Danny," Sam agreed, feeling the same amount of worry.

"We don't have that much time," Danny argued. "If we wait too long he'll kill and destroy everything. I have to stop him before that happens, and he looks like he already has a pretty decent head start too."

"But Danny…"

"Look Mom, I know you're still getting used to this, but this is something I have to do. Make all the hero complex jokes you want, but I have to do this."

"But you don't have to do it alone," Jazz added. "You go now and distract him while we get everyone together and come and join you."

Danny looked around the room, at his family and closest friends, his face colored with hesitation. They all wanted to fight, he could tell. They all wanted to help him, as they always did, not caring for the consequences, but that was all Danny was thinking about; what could and quite possibly would happen to his family and friends if they went out there with him.

"Danny, don't even think about it," Sam warned, shaking Danny out of his thoughts.

"What?"

"Don't even think about telling us we can't go. I recognize that look. You were trying to find some way to tell us not to go, weren't you?"

"Well…yes, but—"

"But you've wisely decided that was a foolish decision and that we're going anyways."

"Yes-wait no! No, you guys can't go."

"And why not Daniel Fenton?" his mother demanded.

"Because."

"That is not going to cut it young man."

"Because I said so." As one all five of them crossed their arms and glared at him. "Look, you guys don't understand."

"Oh we understand more than you think," Jazz defended. "We're not stupid or reckless. We know what we're risking and what we're going up against."

"That's just the thing, you don't!" Danny yelled. "You have no idea! He isn't like all the other ghosts I fight! Sure they're dangerous, but they aren't like him at all! They'll hurt you for messing with their plans; he'll kill you for just standing there, for just looking at him, and he'll do it with a smile on his face. He kills for pleasure and thinks nothing of it, and he'd have no greater joy than to kill the five of you. You can't go near him."

"Danny, we know," Jazz comforted. "Like I said, we know what we're risking, and we're still there for you, one hundred percent. We'd never let you take him on alone."

"Besides, you were fine with us going before," Sam reminded him.

"That was when there was a possibility he was in the thermos. Now that he's free…everything's changed."

Jack and Maddie walked over to their son, placing their hands on his frigid shoulders.

"Sweetie, nothing's really changed," Maddie comforted.

"That's right son. We all suspected that he'd be out of the thermos."

"Even though we didn't say it aloud, we were all thinking it, and still we were willing to help you, no matter what."

"But what if you get hurt, or die?" he asked, voicing his concern.

"What if you get hurt or die?" Sam asked. "There's always that possibility when you go off to fight, but that doesn't stop us from letting you. We know that's what you have to do and we have confidence in you. You just need to have the same in us, and yourself."

"But still, this is different. I'm safe in this fight. He wants to turn me into him and he can't do that if I'm dead. But killing you, that will only make me miserable, which is what he wants."

"Danny, I know there's a good chance that something'll happen, but we're willing to risk it, and you should be too," Jazz added. "We let you have the chance to risk your life to save the town and us, why can't we return the favor?"

Danny looked down to the ground, not really knowing what to say. He really did want their help, and he knew it would be helpful, but he'd rather fight by himself and be an inch near death than risk the lives of those he loved. But he also knew how stubborn his family and friends could be and if their actions over the past few days hadn't been enough of an indication, their attitudes now were. All of them wanted to help him, all of them felt shunted that they'd be forced to stay home when they could be helping him, getting back at the ghost that had caused him so much pain. They wanted to hurt him as much as he did, and he was trying to stop them. As much as he feared to admit it, they were right.

In a strange way he felt honored and loved that his family would risk so much, including their lives, just for him, to bring him some peace in his life. They were by his side without a doubt and had been since the beginning. They had been by his side through everything, from the first cameramen appearing on the corner to managing the press conference, from helping him through the mad crowd of fans to surviving his first day of school, from dealing with the awkward family reunion to guiding him out of his depression. They had been there, with him, through everything, and he wanted to cut them out of the ending. This wasn't just his battle anymore, this was all their battle. They were all involved, all affected by his evil self's plan, and they all deserved to partake in the final showdown.

Danny looked up at them and smiled. "You guys are right, like always. This is just as much your battle as it is mine, and you all should be there. You've been there for everything else, might as well be there for the end."

The rest of them smiled as his mother gave him a warm hug.

"That's good, because whether or not you gave us your permission, we were still going to come," Tucker informed him with a smirk.

"Yeah, I kinda figured. You always were insanely stubborn," Danny teased.

"So, new plan of action?" Jazz asked.

"I head off to meet and distract my evil self while one or two of you find Plasmius and the rest of you get the weapons and stuff ready," Danny instructed.

"But what about Valerie?" Tucker asked.

"She won't help," Danny replied sadly.

"How do you know?" Jazz asked.

"Because the jury's still out on her opinion of me, and if this doesn't show her that I'm evil even though I lied and swore that I wasn't then I don't know what will."

"But if we can convince her…"

"We don't have enough time and I don't want to risk it. I know she'd be helpful, but with all the explaining and convincing…it would take too much time, time we don't have."

"But Danny—"

"No buts. You may have changed my mind on the other topic but I'm staying firm on this one. She just now started giving Danny Phantom a chance because I went to visit her and swore to her that it was all a misunderstanding and that I'm really good, but his appearance contradicts all that. She's going to be confused about me and it'll be a waste of time. Just get the stuff together and come as soon as you can. I don't know how long I'm going to be able to distract him without directly fighting him."

"I just have one more thing," Jazz stated.

"What?" he asked annoyed as he saw yet another building go down on the television due to his future self, something he should have been there to stop.

"I think you need to talk to Plasmius. The Ghostly Vow is between the two of you, so he could and most likely would refuse any request anyone save you made. You have to talk to him, before you leave."

"Fine," Danny agreed, grabbing the phone and preparing to fly up through the ceiling to his room.

"Danny, why are you grabbing the phone? Don't you need to find him in the Ghost Zone?"

"He…has his own line in Vlad's house," Jazz quickly lied to cover for him. "He likes to keep on top of things in the world of the living."

Jack and Maddie looked at each other and then back at Danny. "Well that sure is strange, I've never heard of a ghost having a phone before," Maddie contemplated as Tucker and Sam exchanged a quick glance with Danny while Jazz smiled nervously. "Well, guess there's a first for everything. Go call him."

Danny nodded and flew through the ceiling into his room, dialing the number that he had the misfortune of having committed to memory.

"Yes?" Vlad's voice announced.

"Hey Vlad, watching the news?"

"Yes actually, I am. I am surprised not to see you there, well, the you that's talking to me at the moment at least."

"Very funny. I'm sure you're just enjoying this."

"Au contraire dear boy. I may believe in destruction, but only for a purpose, and destroying just to destroy it is not a justifiable enough purpose. Though I am a little wounded that you never told me what a terror you grow up to be. I'm actually slightly proud."

Danny's eyes glowed brightly as one of the fan blades in Danny's room exploded. "Watch it Vlad."

"Not of what you're doing, but of your progression, and the loss of a little of your annoying righteousness. But we digress. I doubt you called me to discuss what's being showcased on the television."

"Remember that Vow thing where you said you'd help me when I asked?" Danny reminded, jumping right to the point. "Well, I'm asking."

Vlad sighed. "Yes, I was afraid of that."

"I'm going off to fight him and I could really use your help."

"I shall do whatever you ask," Vlad responded in a defeated tone, clearly regretting ever forming such a vow with the evil ghost magnet that was Danny Phantom.

"Meet Jazz in the basement as soon as you can and she'll fill you in on what's going on. And no, my parents still don't know."

"Ah, wishing to blackmail me on a later date?"

The silence from Danny's end of the phone line indicated that he was through with the jovial joking. It was time to get serious.

"I shall of course head out. But if you don't mind me asking, what about you?"

"I'm going to distract him from destroying the town until everyone's set up and you're all going to join me and then the real fight will begin."

"Well Daniel, I wish you luck, and I shall be at your house shortly."

"Good," Danny responded as he hung up, flying back downstairs. "Alright, he's on his way, which means I need to be on mine."

Jazz ran over to him, giving him a large hug. "Be careful Danny and don't be stupid. Just keep him talking and keep him away from destroying the town and yourself until we come. And don't' believe anything he says to you. He's just going to try to bring you down, so don't believe a word of it and remember who you really are."

"I will. Don't worry about me. Remember, he can't kill me."

"You he won't kill you," Jazz countered. "There's a difference. If he wanted, he could kill you easily."

"Relax Jazz, I'll be fine."

"I know, but still, be careful."

Danny nodded in return as she pulled away, leaving room for his parents. Jack scooped him up in a bone crushing hug.

"We're so proud of you son!" he yelled. "Know that."

"And we're with you and rooting for you one hundred percent," his mother comforted as she scooped him up immediately after Jack put him down. "And we love you, so very much."

"I know. I love you too."

Danny walked over to Tucker and Sam and smiled at them as they smiled back.

"Well, here we are again," Danny remarked.

"Just like with Pariah Dark," Tucker added.

"Well, the same promises still stand," Danny informed them. "I'll be fine, and I'll be back."

"And so will we dude, we'll see you soon," Tucker promised as he clapped his hand on his shoulder while Danny smiled.

He turned to Sam and she smiled as he returned it. "Good luck Danny," she wished awkwardly, wringing her hands.

"Thanks. Um, you too."

He turned to face his family, taking one final moment to quiet the rampaging thoughts running through his head, narrowing them down to the simplest point: he was going off to distract his evil self and then, he was going to fight him and win, by any means necessary.

He narrowed his eyes in determination and with a final nod to his family bent down, ready to fly through the roof and towards the city.

"Danny, wait!" Sam shouted, causing Danny to pause. He turned to face her and saw a black and purple blur as she rushed towards him, wrapping her arms around him tightly. Danny, though initially shocked, returned the hug, holding their embrace for a few seconds before Sam pulled away, her cheeks somewhat pink, but a warm smile crossed her face. He smiled back and knelt down, pushing himself into the air and turning intangible as he flew through the roof, soaring towards the center of the destruction and his evil self.

* * *

Danny saw the green sonic waves emerge from over the top of a building, knowing that on the other side lay his evil self. Once he flew over those buildings he would see his evil self, face to face, unlike on the television. He would actually, physically be there. But the screams of the people below as they dove for cover from the falling wreckage awoke Danny out of his stupor and he shook the trepidation out of his head, knowing that he had to save them. He took a deep breath, narrowing his eyes in determination, and flew over the buildings, seeing the carnage portrayed on the television in real life. And there, in the middle of it, was his evil self.

He was the same as he had remembered him, the same commanding figure, the same chilling presence, the same frightening and demeaning visage. He radiated power and wore malevolence like a cloak. The sight of him sent chills running up Danny's spine. There he was, right in front of him, in person.

"It's Danny Phantom!" someone cheered as they saw him in the sky, the looks on everyone's faces brightening slightly to see their ghostly savior there to protect them from the ghost. Of course their cheer also brought the attention of his evil self to him, burning red meeting fiery green as their eyes met.

"Well well, if it isn't Danny Phantom coming to 'save the day' as usual. Took you long enough," he taunted as he shot an ecto-blast at a nearby building, the top crumbling and falling to the ground, watching in delight as the people below ran for cover. "Tell me, why the delay? Were you afraid to face me? Did you stare at the television in shock at seeing my face, the face that's been haunting your dreams since our last meeting?"

"Don't flatter yourself," Danny mocked, floating closer, his eyes narrowed in hatred. "My delay had nothing to do with you."

His evil self grinned. "Which means that it did. What were you thinking about I wonder? Were you trying to build up the courage to come face me, or were you more concerned with what the precious town was going to think of you once you left the sanctuary of your house? People aren't stupid Danny, they would have seen the resemblance, and they know I'm you."

"You're not me. You're nothing like me," Danny spat back.

"You're right. Why I would find it insulting to possess as much humanity as you do. But what you fail to realize is that I'm much better than you. I'm you perfected, purified of all those useless human emotions. And though you're not like me now, in your future, you will be."

"I'm never going to become you," he lashed back.

"Please, you can't expect me to fall for that. You're forgetting, like before, that as long as I'm still here, you will still become me."

"That's not true. You exist outside of time, so whether I become you or not has no effect on you."

"Oh, did your overbearing idiot of a sister tell you that? Or maybe your all knowing and yet manipulative guardian Clockwork? Can't you see Danny, they just said that to make you feel better, to comfort you, as they always do. Always telling you what you want to hear, but never the truth because the truth is too hard for you to handle."

A window shattered on a nearby building from Danny's upswing in anger, but he kept a level face as he remembered what Jazz had told him. He was just trying to get under his skin, make him mad. Unfortunately for Danny, he knew more than anyone exactly how to get under his skin.

"Look Danny, look all around you, look at all the people that have shown up for our duel," he sneered, gesturing with a broad sweep of his powerful arm at the crowd surrounding them. "All of them came here with one thought in mind, to see what your future is like, and that future is me. You may have some delusional hope that I won't happen, that you won't become me, but that's all you have: hope. They, however, have concrete evidence of your future, as exemplified by my presence here.

"So do you turn into me? Of course you do. Everyone here believes it. Just listen around and you'll see, not a single reporter is reporting it otherwise because they know what you try to forget, what you try to deny."

Danny snarled at him, but he couldn't help hearing the reporters, all of them referring to him as "Danny Phantom's evil self" or "Danny Phantom's future." He was right, they did all see it.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is Lance Thunder reporting to you in the middle of an epic battle between Danny Phantom, also known as Danny Fenton, and his evil self from what we assume is the future who, for the sake of ease, shall be called Dark Danny and—"

"Actually, it's Dan," he interrupted, smoothly sweeping his arm out and charging an ecto-blast in the direction of the reporter. "Danny just sounds too naïve." He released the blast, the green energy roaring towards the reporter. Danny saw the attack and concentrated, using his telekinesis to send a mailbox in front of the reporter to take the blast for him. Surprisingly enough it came easily, probably because of all the emotions raging through his body. He didn't even need to concentrate on a feeling, they were already on the surface and powerful enough for him to use.

Dan turned towards Danny blasting him in the chest, sending him to the ground as Danny groaned, his chest smoking from the blast. "That was cute Danny, really cute," Dan taunted. "But play another trick like that and our fun shall end far too quickly."

"Who said we were having fun?" Danny asked sarcastically as he got up and floated back into the air, trying to act like nothing had happened though his chest burned from the blast.

"Ah, the witty banter. I forgot you were still juvenile enough to partake in such things. I'm used to getting right to the killing, but I might as well indulge you, if only for the petty feeling of nostalgia."

"Hmm, and here I thought you didn't care about that."

"I don't. When I referred to nostalgia I simply meant the nostalgia of those few lucky enough to survive my slaughter of this city as they look back on this fateful day, the day their city was destroyed, as well as the pure Danny Phantom they've always known, or thought they knew at any rate."

"That's never going to happen," Danny thundered. "I'm not going to become you and you're not going to destroy the town."

"Oh, and who's going to stop me? You? Hardly. You and I are both aware that it was simply luck that trapped me in that thermos the last time we battled. Are you hoping you'll get lucky again? I highly doubt that. I've had a long time to think about this day, this moment, while in the confines of that infernal container, and no amount of luck is going to stop me from getting what I desire this time."

"Yeah, well maybe I don't need to be lucky this time to beat you."

"Oh my, why am I unafraid?" he mocked before glaring at Danny, shooting another ecto-blast at his chest, sending him backwards before he caught himself in the air, gritting his teeth from the pain before flying back, shooting his back with an ecto-blast. "Oh please," Dan replied, his face bored as he created an ecto-shield that easily absorbed the blast.

"You're not a threat to me; you never have been. I'm the threat. I'm the one with the power, I'm the one with the experience, I'm the one that tarnished your reputation, I'm the one that makes you check the mirror every morning just to make sure your eyes are still green, I'm the one that can kill everyone you care about in an instant, and I'm the one that revealed your precious secret to the entire world."

"You make it sound like all those things bother me," Danny replied, which was a flat out lie and he knew it, but he had to say something. He had to keep him talking until the rest of them got here. It shouldn't be long now. He just had to keep him talking.

"Danny, don't lie, least of all to me, the one that knows you more than even your friends. You can't lie to yourself. I've ruined your life, made your worst fears a reality. I set everything up for your secret to be revealed. I hired the cameraman, I influenced the events, I made you miserable and I watched in ecstasy as it happened. But while I'm not sorry, I'm going to try to make it up to you, out of respect for our past. Skulker, bring me Danny's gift."

Movement to Danny's left caught his attention as he chanced to turn his attention away from Dan. Skulker flew out of the crumbling building, Andrew Massey in his mechanical grip, his face deathly pale, his normally cheerful eyes wide with worry and terror as he beheld the ghost that held his fate in his hands.

"You should feel special Danny, I rarely do favors for others," Dan taunted as he grabbed Massey from Skulker, his powerful hands wrapping around his neck as he dangled him above the ground.

"Put him down," Danny demanded fiercely, his eyes glowing brightly as another window cracked. It was one thing to keep him talking but it was another to bring someone else into the banter.

"What, you don't like my gift Danny, even after I told you how rare this is? Oh come now, that's not polite, and you don't even know what my gift is. I guarantee you'll like it once you hear it," Dan goaded, a malevolent smile crossing his face.

"See, you think I'm the one responsible for your desolation, and while I am proud to have that honor, I fear I cannot take all the credit. Really, this man here is the one responsible. I merely gave him the opportunity, but he's the one that took it and made it a reality. In all actuality it's his fault, and you know this, but you still choose to blame me because you know that if you place the blame on me you can take all your rage and hatred out on me with no moral repercussions. But were you to do it to a human, well, that wouldn't be very moral of you, now would it, and you would become the very thing you've sworn never to become, me."

Massey's eyes darted around the scene, looking from Skulker, to Dan, to the crowd, to Danny, his eyes fearful and pleading, hoping that he'd make it through, regretting everything he'd done, realizing how he came to be in such a position.

"So here's my gift to you, Daniel Fenton, I'll right what's been wronged to you. You're too righteous to do what needs to be done, but I'm not. I'll satisfy your desires for you."

Dan inhaled deeply, closing his eyes in what appeared to be bliss. "I can smell the panic, the terror, the dread, radiating off his body like an intoxicating aroma. Does this please you Danny? Does this satisfy your need for revenge? To see him suffer in fear like this? To see him watch as his meaningless life passes before his eyes? Or do you wish for more? Do you crave more? I can't have you the slightest bit unsatisfied with my gift." An evil smirk crossed his face. "But I think I know just the thing that'll finally please your lust for vengeance.

"I know you want to make him suffer, make him pay for what he did to you, and who knows better than I? I can see what you want to do, what you long to do, and while the precious humanity you cling to so tightly may prevent you from enacting upon those desires, it, fortunately, isn't stopping me."

"No!" Danny cried, unable to do anything to save him, their eyes briefly connecting before Dan quickly jerked his hand, effortlessly snapping Massey's neck as a loud, wet crack echoed down the street, reverberating off the buildings, as Danny watched the light die from the innocent reporter's eyes.

Dan dropped Massey's dead and limp body carelessly to the floor, his eyes shining with sadistic pleasure as the body crumpled beneath him, landing on the hard cement.

Danny froze, his face drained of the slight bit of color it had left, his eyes wide in shock and terror, unable to move or do anything save stare at the crumpled and motionless body that had once been talking, smiling, living.

"Why Danny, you don't look pleased. What's wrong? Did you really wish to do it yourself? Then I feel I must apologize, but I think I know just how to make it up to you, another gift."

Dan floated down to the ground, picking up Massey's body by his shirt, his appendages flapping lifelessly around his dead body. He threw him impassively to Danny as he would a ball, Danny catching it as it wilted over his arms. He looked down at the lifeless form, seeing the look of horror on his pale face, his eyes still wide and empty. There was no movement, no beating heart, no soft rising and falling of the chest, it was completely still. Glowing tears leaked out of Danny's eyes, falling onto the shirt of the body as he continued to hold him, not knowing what to do or even how to act as he still stared in shock at the corpse.

"There, now you can do with his body what you please. It won't be the same of course, it never is, but desecrating his body can be just as pleasurable and, of course, you must remember that in actuality you did murder him, since you and I are indeed synonymous."

Danny finally lifted his gaze from the body and looked at Dan in revulsion, the tears still falling from his eyes while Dan looked ecstatic at the pain he was causing Danny. He looked back down at the body and then at the crowd around him, staring at him and the lifeless body in his arms, the lifeless body that died because of him.

Danny shut his eyes, unable to look at the body any longer, unable to look at anything any longer. He dropped the body and took off, flying into the sky, away from the town, away from Dan, away from the cadaver, away from everything as Dan's malicious laughter echoed behind him.

* * *

A/N: Gasp, did I just do something evil, other than end it an awful cliffy? Did I just kill my first character ever…?

And I'm feeling much better now! There's just something about Dan that makes me really excited and happy.

So, as for the lateness, I'm sorry, and I can promise an update will never be this long again. I had no time to write this chapter since my life is totally crazy right now and I would write only little bits at a time because that's all I had time for. But thankfully those add up and now it's finished!

Also, funny story regarding the Dan scene. I was writing that at my sister's badminton game and there was this stupid jerk sitting next to me that cheered every time my sister missed the birdie because that meant her daughter got the point. Well, you just don't do that and I so totally wanted to kill her, but like Danny, my morality stopped me, so I put that into the Dan part. I just thought that was kinda amusing…

Here's hoping you enjoyed it! Now I have to get to class, which I should have left for five minutes ago….


	21. Guilt

A/N: No, it's not your imagination, and no, it's not some mirage designed by your brain to trick you. It is actually up (dies of heart attack) Trust me, I'm as excited to finally get this up as you are to see it up:)

So, to begin my plethora of apologies and excuses, I am insanely, unendingly sorry for the delay. I know I promised never to have such a long wait again, only to follow such a promise with one that took even longer to update, but I assure you I had no desire for this to happen. I had to take three weeks away from writing anything due to midterms (which were absolutely horrible) and plus this chapter is very angsty (as you can all probably guess) so it took awhile to write as well. So really it only took me three weeks to write, not counting the three weeks I spent studying continuously. Still, I know it's no excuse, but at least you understand the delay... I really, truly am sorry and I hope you can all find it in your hearts to forgive the long wait.

And of course I want to thank everyone profusely for your unending support of this story, specifically those of you who review. I mean 780 reviews? I can honestly say I have never dreamed one of my measly attempts at fanfiction could amass such a large number of reviews, but I thank you regardless. You are all far, far too kind (hugs for you all!)

So without further ado (since there's been enough of a gap already) I present the next fun and angsty chapter.

* * *

Chapter Twenty-One  
Guilt

The new Team Phantom, with Plasmius in tow, was about to head out of the house, to assist Danny and save him from the one-on-one verbal battle with his evil self, when Jazz gasped at the display on the television. Everyone immediately turned around, fearing the worst, catching the screen just as Dan brutally, mercilessly, and enjoyably snapped the neck of the reporter that had blown Danny's secret. Jazz placed her hands to her mouth, her eyes wide in horror as they heard the feral crack of the reporter's neck bone even through the television. They watched in revulsion as Dan casually dropped him to the floor, watched in dread as he taunted Danny, watched in terror as he picked him up and threw him at Danny, watched in shock as Danny dropped the body and flew as fast as he could away from Dan, his laughter following him, taunting his retreating figure.

Seconds passed, minutes passed, nobody knew what to do, what to say, how to react. They were all simply stunned, ravaged with so many feelings they couldn't keep them all straight: shock at what they'd seen, fear of Dan, sorrow for the deceased reporter, and sympathy for Danny. If this is how they were feeling they could only imagine how Danny felt being subjected to all the cruel torture in person.

"We have to find Danny," Jazz stated, the first to find her voice after watching the horrible display on the television. "He needs us."

Maddie nodded, stepping forward and shutting off the television, unable to think rationally as she watched the man who tortured her son, only thinking of the tortures she wanted to inflict on him every time she saw that monstrous face. She turned to face the stunned members in the room, the people who were going to help Danny through this unexpected trauma. "Jack, go get the Fenton Ghost Tracker," she demanded grimly as he nodded in compliance. "We'll need it to track him down. The rest of you, into the GAV, and start prepping for a much needed pep talk."

The family rushed off to follow orders, Plasmius choosing to stay behind, feeling it wouldn't be prudent for him to join them in the pep talk, which of course was fine with them. The less they had to do with him, the better.

Soon they were loaded into the GAV, the tracker locked on a moving signal. Jack started the engine and careened out of the drive way, following the signal that would lead them towards the one that desperately needed them.

* * *

Danny kept flying. He wouldn't stop, he couldn't. If he stopped, he'd have to think, have to remember, have to feel. As long as the wind continued to whip across his face, as long as he continued to put distance between him and the body of the man he was responsible for killing, he would be okay.

It was his fault, all of it. The reporter's death, the destruction of the town, he was responsible for all of it, and he wasn't referring to himself in the future. If only he had stopped Dan sooner, if only he had decided to go straight to fighting instead of the taunts that ended up in an innocent man's death, if only he was never weak enough to create Dan at all.

He shook his head, blinking fresh tears from his eyes. He couldn't think about this. There was no way he could have known what would have happened. It all made sense before when they were planning things out, and he never thought or even imagined things would progress this far. He had been concerned about the lives of his family, because that was what he thought had been at stake. The poor reporter who now lay dead on the floor in front of Dan didn't even cross his mind as a possible sacrifice.

But that still didn't change the fact that he was. He was dead and gone and there was nothing he could do to change that. The time for changing it had long since passed…

_No_ he thought harshly, pushing the flood of memories threatening to break free back into the corner of his mind that he had trapped them in. He wasn't going to let them out, all the feelings of remorse, guilt, shock, sadness, fear, anger. They had to stay inside, he didn't want to remember them. He would push them back as long as he could, anything to prevent remembering the sight of the light leaving Massey's eyes.

"No," he commanded himself aloud, trying once more to solidify the boundaries of the prison for his thoughts. He couldn't let them sneak out like that. He needed to concentrate on something, something that would distract him, provide him with some amount of comfort. He closed his eyes, concentrating on the feeling of the wind against his face. That feeling had always calmed him, made him feel better, helped him lose himself on troubled midnight flights through the sky. Just the calming feeling of the wind caressing his face, flowing through his hair as it breathed across his face helped him lose himself in the memories of how much he loved this feeling. A feeling Massey could never experience again.

Because Massey was dead.

Danny stopped flying, placing his hands to his eyes. "Stop it!" he yelled. He tried to trap the thoughts back into his mind, but he couldn't. The small fissure that had been letting the trickle of thoughts through his strong fortress was under siege, and after repeated pressure from his repressed thoughts, it burst, his feelings, thoughts, and memories pouring out like water out of a ruptured dam.

He saw Dan's foreboding figure, remembering the fear he felt as he first confronted him. He saw Dan's smirking face, hearing the taunts as they echoed through his mind, feeling the hurt from the comments once again. He saw Skulker bring Massey out as Dan slithered his powerful hands around his neck, his frightened eyes darting around as they came to rest on his own, begging for him to help, to do something. He remembered the feeling of helplessness, of despair, of fear, and the powerlessness of being unable to stop it. He saw the maniacal, sadistic glint in Dan's eyes, knowing what he was going to do before he even did it…

"No! Stop it! Please, stop it!" Danny cried, tears pouring out of his eyes.

But they didn't stop; he couldn't stop them. They just kept coming. He heard the visceral crack of Massey's neck, recalling the feelings of shock and horror at the action. He saw the light leave Massey's eyes as they continued to stare at him, as they died staring at him. He felt the cold stillness of the body in his hands. He saw the horrified face of the dead reporter looking up at him, the vision frozen in his mind.

"Please stop!" Danny screamed again, taking off at top speed as he cried. He felt himself dropping in altitude, unable to stay afloat, unable to concentrate, unable to think about anything other than the memories and the pains associated along with them.

He found sanctuary in a small forest clearing. He landed and sank onto the floor, propped up against a tree as he curled up and bawled into his knees, wrapping his arms around them for comfort, changing himself into his human form.

It was all his fault. It was his fault Massey was dead, that he would no longer be able to experience joy, laughter, happiness, or even sadness or anger. He could no longer feel anything. He was dead and he, Daniel Fenton, was to blame.

Why didn't he listen to Massey before? Why didn't he let him keep the identity a secret? He was so adamant about it, not disclosing Dan's identity, no matter how much Danny begged him for it. He only gave in after Danny guilted him into revealing it. He obviously had to have known it would put him in danger if he revealed it, and Danny forced him to. He had forced Massey into sacrificing his life, just so he could know who was responsible for blowing his secret and feel partially complete, feel at least a little consolation knowing who caused him so much suffering.

But it wasn't worth it. In the end, he would still rather not know that Dan had set the whole thing up rather than Massey lying dead on the cold asphalt while he, Danny, was the one to blame.

He shouldn't have forced it out of him! He should have just let it be! Why didn't he just listen to Massey? He just had to know so he could remedy the situation, and now Massey was dead because of it. He could have just let it go, he could have just left, and Massey would still be alive. He would have found out it was Dan eventually by his appearance, so it was all for naught.

Massey died in vain, because of his stupid, rash mistakes and his craving for vengeance.

But even if he still had stupidly forced the information out of Massey, he was to blame for his death again. He had heard the tape, had heard the threat by Dan at the end. Why hadn't he paid more heed to Dan's warning in the tape? If he was paying attention he could have protected Massey, considered him as a possible sacrifice. He could have given him the Specter Deflectors, put a ghost shield around his home and office. Then Skulker never would have been able to grab him and thus Dan never would have been able to kill him. He would still be in the safe, ghost free environment, alive. His stupid mistakes had again doomed him to his death. If he had only been thinking clearly, he could have prevented it, again.

In the end it was most assuredly his fault. He had two chances to protect Massey, to prevent this from happening, and he blew it on both of them. Some kind of hero he was. He couldn't even save the people around him.

Although it didn't matter anymore. The town wouldn't want him as a hero now anyways, not after seeing what he would become, and what he could do. The whole town was going to shun him just like his family had. They would disassociate themselves with him, stay away from him, look at him in fear and disappointment, all the while knowing that whenever they looked at him, they were looking at the boy that would eventually turn into the monster that was now demolishing the town. Even if he found some way to stop him, they would still see him that way, still see him as the one that at any moment could turn into that and destroy the town, and they'd have no way to stop him.

He knew he wouldn't turn into Dan. The pep talk his family had given him before had convinced him. He wasn't evil and he wouldn't let himself become that which he hated most, especially after Massey's death. But the town didn't know that, didn't believe that, and they never would, no matter what he could say to them. It didn't work on his family, and it wouldn't work on strangers. He would forever be branded as an evil ghost, and that evil stigma would carry over to his school life. Instead of looking at him in admiration, they would look and cower in fear, seeing Dan in his stead. He wouldn't be able to go anywhere without that stigma upon him, and it would follow him for the rest of his life. Everywhere he went, no matter whether he was ghost or human, those looks and thoughts would follow him.

He hugged his legs tighter, visions of both the brutal murder and the look of the town playing freely in his brain as he continued to cry into his knees, trying to find solace in something, but realizing there was nothing to take solace in…

* * *

The GAV stopped outside a distant forest, Danny's signal coming from inside it. They quickly jumped out, rushing through the forest, the tracker and the sound of crying leading them through the forest to their son, their friend, their brother, their hero.

They broke into the clearing and saw Danny huddled against a tree, lifting his dull and puffy eyes up from his knees, looking at his family. The normally bright, crystal blue of his eyes had faded to a dull, cloudy blue resembling a cloudy sky before a storm, leaden down with despair.

"Oh my God, sweetie!" Maddie sobbed, rushing over to her son, scooping him up into her arms as he cried into her shoulder. The rest of the family rushed in behind her, each crowding in around Danny. They remained in their embrace for what seemed like hours, purely transferring their comfort and warmth to Danny as he continued to sob into his mother's shoulder, expunging himself of all his agony and desolation.

Finally they pulled apart, Maddie holding him at arm's length as she ran her hand through his hair, Jazz offering him a tissue.

Danny took it, wiping his tear-stained face. "Ho-how did you guys…never mind," he finished, seeing the discarded Fenton Tracker on the ground.

"We knew we had to find you," Maddie stated. "We-we saw the news and, we just had to come after you."

Danny nodded. He was grateful they had come, he needed them here with him now, to help him deal with all the pain, the guilt, the anguish.

"And we came to let you know that everything is going to—" Maddie started to comfort before Danny shook himself out of his mother's grip.

"No, don't even start to say that everything is going to be okay. It's not."

"But Danny—"

"How can it be okay? Massey's dead, Dan's terrorizing the city, and it's all my fault!" he cried.

"Danny, this is not your fault," Jazz stated adamantly.

"Yes it is! It's all my fault! Massey never would have been killed if it weren't for me!"

"You don't know that."

"Yes I do. On that tape, Dan threatened him, told him not to reveal the source or else he'd hurt him, and not only did I not pay attention to it when I should have, but I forced Massey into giving me the recording. I guilted him into giving me something that would end his life."

"Danny, you had more important things to worry about when you heard that recording," Jazz comforted.

"More important than someone's life?" he spat back.

"Danny, when Tucker and I heard the tape we didn't pay any attention to the content of the tape, we just concentrated on his voice. Once we heard it, we knew what it meant, and we didn't pay any attention to what he said, just the fact that he was the one saying it, and I'm sure you did the exact same thing," Sam consoled. "You're not to blame for it, just like we're not to blame. None of us paid any attention to the content until it was too late."

He realized she was right. He didn't pay attention to the content. He never even listened to the instructions; he just let the voice fill his head as memories of the owner of that voice accompanied it. He didn't remember the threat until it was too late. But that didn't matter. That only explained one way he contributed to Massey's death.

"But what about forcing the tape out of him in the first place? I'm sure he listened to the content of the tape, he had to have known that he would die if he gave it over, and I guilted him into it! I guilted him into his own death!"

"Danny, you didn't force him to do anything," Jazz stated.

"Yes I did! He didn't want to give it to me but I kept pestering him for it, yelling at him for it. I was yelling at him to hand over the tape that would lead to his death!" he cried, angry tears pouring from his eyes.

Jazz grabbed onto his shoulders, forcing him to look into her eyes. "Danny, listen to me. You did not force him. I was there, I saw it. You talked to him, you told him how important the tape was and how much it would mean getting it, but ultimately the choice was his and his alone. He could have continued to refuse you, he could have thrown you out of the building, but instead he decided to go against the warning and give you the tape anyways.

"He knew what he was doing. To say he was stupid enough to give you the recording without knowing what could happen would be an insult to his memory. He knew that if he gave it to you he would likely end up dead at Dan's hands, but he didn't care. He still gave you the tape."

"But why? Why'd he have to do that?"

"Isn't it obvious? He did it for you. He was willing to sacrifice his life to help right yours. All the reasons for why you wanted the tape became his reasons for why he wanted to risk his life for your cause. He believed in you and what you stood for, and to make it up to you, he gave you that recording."

"But I didn't want him to sacrifice his life for me!" Danny bawled, the hurt and agony piling up inside his chest. "If I would have known I never would have let him give me that tape! I never would have let him sacrifice himself!"

"I know, but that's not your choice to make. It was his choice. It was his life, and you can't stop him from giving up his life for you any more than we can stop you from you giving yours for us."

"But it wasn't like it even did us any good!"

"What are you talking about Danny?" his mother asked. "Of course it did us some good. We found out who was behind blowing your secret."

"We could have found that out when he started terrorizing the town like he is now."

"But we wouldn't have been prepared," Maddie pointed out. "By receiving the tape we were prepared, we knew it was him and we knew what to do incase he showed up."

"I'd rather not have a plan than to have Massey's life in danger."

"Danny, do you really think Dan would have shown himself if it weren't for Massey?" Jazz asked.

"What are you talking about?"

"Strategically, Dan had everything going for him before you found out it was him. He had you wallowing in misery, with probably more plans to make you even more miserable, all the while he would continue operating secretly within the thermos so you never knew he was behind it. There was no reason for him to ever come out. If his ultimate goal is to turn you into himself, then he could have continued doing it without direct involvement, and you would continue becoming miserable, not knowing that this was the cause. But when you found out Dan was responsible, you realized that the misery was just a way to try to turn you evil, and you promised to fight it, like you have been since you found out about him.

"Finding out about him ruined his plan. He was banking on the fact that you didn't know it was him, but as soon as you did, he had to change his plans, accelerating them and doing something drastic, like releasing himself and challenging you, killing Massey to not only fulfill his threat, but to make you miserable.

"If Massey didn't give you the tape, you would still be in the dark, not knowing who was behind this, and having no way to stop the downward spiral into desolation that he was planning. But now, now you can fight him, defeat him, have a chance to fix what he screwed up! And Massey giving you that tape and in turn forfeiting his life gave you that chance. He gave you the chance for happiness, the happiness that he had unintentionally originally taken away from you."

"There was no other way it could have played out for the better Danny," Tucker comforted. "This is the best scenario possible, and Massey knew that."

"How can this be the best scenario?" Danny asked. "How can the entire town seeing Dan and now knowing that he exists along with Massey being dead the best scenario?"

"Think about it Danny, would you really want him to still be in the thermos, silently working out his plans to make you miserable. He was planning on turning everyone against you eventually. I mean, blowing the secret, Infuriator, the appearance of our family and eventual separation from them, it was all probably part of his plan to make you miserable from the sidelines. He was going to slowly take everyone that ever trusted you and turn them against you, and being you, he would know exactly how to do it too. Trust me Danny, it's better this way."

"But it's still turning everyone against me!"

"Yes, but this time it's different. This time, you can fight him back. This time the people can see you fighting it, while if he remained on the sidelines they'd never see the grand plan."

"If they even want me to fight for them anymore…"

"Of course they do Danny, why wouldn't they?" Jazz asked, taken aback. She wasn't expecting an outburst like this.

"They all think I'm evil!" he cried. "Why would they want someone with a future like mine protecting them?"

"Danny, we've already been through this; that's not your future because you're never going to turn into him."

"But the public doesn't know that! They all think I'm him, think I'm going to turn into him!"

"Danny, they don't all think that…"

"Of course they do! You weren't there, you didn't see the way they looked at me while Dan was talking!"

"Danny, I told you that you shouldn't let Dan's taunts get to you. They don't mean anything and he'll just say anything to get you worked up."

"I didn't, I didn't need to. It wasn't what he said to me that's the problem; it's what the rest of the town heard and what they thought."

Jazz sighed. "Danny, I'm sure most of them were just shocked. A lot of them know you, they're your classmates, your friends, your teachers, people you see and save all the time. I'm sure once all this is over you'll go back to school and things will be back to the way they were before Dan attacked."

Danny shook his head. "You're just saying that to make me feel better."

"Technically, everything we're saying is trying to make you feel better," Tucker pointed out.

Danny groaned. "You know what I mean. You're just making it up to make me feel better. You don't really mean it."

"Danny, I wouldn't—"

"My own _grandparents_ wouldn't see past it, and they didn't even have the proof in front of their faces, and you think some random people in the town that I go to school with or order food from at the Nasty Burger are going to see past him? Somehow, I don't think so."

The family remained silent, not knowing exactly how to dispute his claim which, unfortunately, was very truthful. Danny noticed this, his mood dropping. He knew this was the truth, but he had still hoped they would have something to say, something that he wasn't seeing. That was usually the point of these talks: they would find what he was missing and remind him of it and he would leave feeling better. So where was that missing piece of information or proof, showing that he was just doubting himself or just being pessimistic? Or was there really nothing for them to say?

"You guys see it too don't you? If they weren't willing to see it, the town won't either."

Jazz sighed. "Look, I'll be honest with you Danny, there are probably a lot of people that aren't going to believe you when you say that you're not going to turn into him, but those are probably going to be the same people who didn't think you were good before Dan even showed up. You've dealt with the entire town being against you before, still fighting and still doing what you know is right, so why should it be any different now? So what, now they have proof, what does it matter? They were already thinking it without proof in the first place."

"Yeah, but I won't have a break from it now. I can't just hide out as Danny Fenton, away from the fearful looks and untrusting reactions, because they know I'm Phantom too, and thus evil."

"Danny sweetie, honestly, we don't have an answer for you," Maddie apologized. "We don't know how the town's going to react to this, and we can only guess as to what they're going to do. There was a reason Dan chose to do this because he knew that it would affect the town and thus affect you. But you have to be stronger and rise above him, show him that it doesn't affect or scare you, let him know that you're still willing to go on, regardless of what he does or shows the public."

"Besides Danny, when you fight him and _when_ you beat him, the town will see that," Sam pointed out.

"They'll see that you're not only denouncing Dan, but that you're fighting him, challenging him and his existence, and while I'm not guaranteeing that it'll convince everyone, I know it will convince a lot of people. Plus, by fighting him, you'd be a hero, saving the town from the enemy destroying it, even if it is yourself, and they'll have to admit that while you may possibly have a dark future, you're a hero in the present, and that's all that will matter," Jazz comforted, giving his hand a sympathetic squeeze.

Danny smiled, the first glimmer of hope rising up inside him. She had done it, she had found that missing piece of information needed to counter his pessimism, the ray of sunshine to pierce his storm cloud of doubts. He let go of her hand and gave her a warm hug. He knew he could count on her, on all of them, to help him, to give him a little boost. It wasn't complete and it didn't comfort all his depressing thoughts, but it did help him to think straighter, find a way to push the thoughts out of his mind better than he had done earlier when he was trying to run. He had found a way to deal, found a way to wrap his mind around the memories, guilt, and fear, and accept parts of them, understanding they were beyond his control or that there was nothing he could do. And while there were still parts he couldn't deal with and didn't have answers to, like Massey's death or what the town would think of him after all this was over, he had at least managed to push them out of his brain until later, when he had time to properly deal with them.

His family hugged him back, seeing some of the clouds in his eyes dissipate. They had done their job. They had helped him, and nothing could make them happier. Their hero was back and ready to take his stand, against both Dan and his new negative reputation.

They were just starting to break apart, ready to give comforting words before heading into battle when a voice from the clearing made them all turn to face the newcomer.

"Sorry to interrupt but, we need to talk."

* * *

Valerie had actually been doing her homework in front of the television that day, the first time she'd actually sat down to do her homework for a long time. She had to admit it was definitely a welcome feeling. It reminded her of how it felt before she started ghost hunting, doing her homework, getting good grades, having time to herself. Now that she knew Danny was Phantom, she didn't have to spend every night searching for him or training for when she did manage to find him. She could finally have some time to relax, get things together, balance her life like she'd been trying to do ever since she started ghost hunting.

It was a strange feeling, sitting around and doing nothing for once. She knew there were probably other ghosts out there she should probably take care of, but she knew Danny had it under control, which alone was a strange enough feeling. Not only was she not obsessed with hunting Phantom, but she trusted him enough to know that he would keep the town safe while she took a little break for herself. After all, she trusted Danny, why shouldn't she trust Phantom? They were, after all, the same person.

But an urgent news report on the television shook her out of her thoughts, causing her to direct her full attention to the television. They were talking about a ghost that was terrorizing the town, a ghost using powers greatly resembling Phantom's, including his signature Ghostly Wail, and boasting the infamous Phantom symbol on his chest.

Valerie stared in shock at the screen, unable to believe her eyes. It was Phantom, there was no question, it was definitely Phantom. The color scheme of the suit, the symbol, both were indicative of Phantom, but what she recognized most were the powers, powers she'd had to combat time and time again when she used to fight him. It was, without a doubt, Phantom. And yet, it was nothing like the Phantom she'd always seen, and it most certainly didn't resemble Danny.

She continued to watch the screen, transfixed, debating whether or not she should suit up and go after him. But then she heard cheers from the stupid crowd surrounding the menacing destroyer and the camera moved to focus on the real Phantom, the Phantom she knew, the Danny she knew.

She listened as the two exchanged banter and occasional shots, not believing what she was hearing. The ghost demolishing the town was _Danny_? And from the future no less? Danny would grow up to become _this_? To turn into _this_?

But, he had promised. He had promised her that he wasn't evil and never would be. He had blatantly lied to her when he went to talk to her after she found out. He had told her he wasn't, and never would be, evil. But then, what was the thing floating in front of them, showing his monstrous behavior to the entire world?

It was so obvious. He had lied. He had used being her friend to take advantage of her and lie to her. He didn't want to fight her anymore and lied to her to get her off his back. It was just like him, pulling tricks and pranks to get what he wanted, making her trust him before he ripped that trust from under them and turned on her again.

Mentally she slapped herself. What was she thinking? This was Danny Fenton, sweet Danny Fenton. He wouldn't do that to her. In fact, he'd never done it to her, at least not on purpose. After she'd found out about him she'd spent hours sitting on her bed, trying to figure it out, going back over all their encounters, all their interactions, seeing things she'd never realized before. He'd never hurt her, or at least not as badly as he could have, or as bad as she'd hurt him. He'd never tried to screw her over, never meant to double cross her. He only wanted her to cease hunting him, not so that he could fulfill his evil plots without her on his case, but because they were friends, friends that shouldn't be fighting each other.

Even as she watched the horror on the television she could tell, she could see that he didn't want this future, that he was fighting and struggling against it. The way they talked, the way they interacted, she could see the deep-seated hate between them. He was fighting it, trying to remain good, like he was at the moment.

But she still felt hurt that he didn't tell her. Sure he promised that he would never be evil, probably because it was the same promise he made to himself, but he still didn't trust her, again. He didn't trust her with his secret and now, he didn't trust her with this. She could tell why he did it, since she always had thought him evil and he was trying to convince her otherwise, but still, how did he expect her to form an honest opinion of him without telling her? Unless he didn't care, just as long as she trusted him he was fine, and it didn't matter if he left out a few important details. Just as long as she was going to trust him, he was fine.

She wanted to talk to him, ask him the real reason why. She'd hate to think that it was simply a way to influence her opinion of him, but from where she stood, that's what it seemed like. Of course there were many other reasons, like not being able to comfortably admit it or not wanting to talk about it, but still, she wanted to make sure. She wanted to believe him, to trust him, but experience kept telling her otherwise.

But the newest scene on the television stopped her thoughts dead as the murder of Massey played in front of her eyes. Now was definitely not the time to talk to him, that was certain. But now was also not the time to stay sitting in her house, not when she should be out there, helping him. She watched him fly off, the camera following after him. She clicked the television off, suiting up before kicking her glider out, flying out the window. She turned on her tracker while flying in the direction she last saw Danny heading. Finally finding his fleeing signal she shot off, rushing to keep his signal still in her scanner. Man, that boy could fly fast when he wanted.

Finally she saw the signal stop, sighing in relief as she approached the blinking light, finally landing in the forest clearing. She started walking through the trees, stopping as she saw Danny surrounded by his family, Jazz comforting him about the death of the reporter. She stayed in the bushes, sensing a family moment. She'd come out after they were done.

As she sat she listened into their conversation, her frustration at him melting away. He was clearly ashamed of this future and was clearly concerned about how much he was hurting his reputation. And after hearing that Dan, as they called him, had really set everything up to mess with him and ruin his life, she knew she had received the answer to her question. He wasn't trying to trick her, he obviously refused to talk about the sensitive subject as much as possible, promising everyone he isn't evil because that's his goal, and admitting that he had an evil future would mean he gave in.

Finally when the talk was over she stepped into the clearing, the hood of her suit removed, the Fentons looking up at her in shock to see her there.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we need to talk," she stated firmly.

"Valerie, this really isn't—" Sam interrupted but Valerie held her hand up.

"I know, I watched the news. That's the reason I'm here actually." She turned to look at Danny. "Remember how I said I was still waiting on a final judgment on you? Well, I just wanted to let you know that I've made my decision."

"Yeah, I figured you had," he replied dejectedly as he looked down at the ground. Here it was, the beginning of slippery chute, the first of many that will judge him and find him guilty of being evil.

"You're not evil, and you're never going to turn into him."

Danny looked up at her, his eyes shining in hope. Did she just say what he thought she did? "R-really?" he asked, daring to hope. She nodded her head and he ran towards her, hugging her tightly. "Thank you, thank you so much. You have no idea how much that means to me."

Valerie smiled. "Oh, I kinda think I do," she replied, returning the hug. Danny pulled away, smiling at her. Valerie, the Red Hunter, the one obsessed with harming and capturing his ghost half, didn't think he was evil, despite the appearance of his evil self and her already preconceived notions of his moral nature. In spite of all that, she had judged him and found him to be good.

Maybe he was being too hard on himself, not giving the town enough credit. Maybe a lot more of them than he thought would look past the blatant proof and see that he was fighting as hard as he could to prevent this from happening. If Valerie could see it, after everything she had already believed, then maybe more people could too. Maybe they would be able to see past it like she did, maybe things weren't as bleak as before.

"See Danny, there are still people who believe in you, people who still think you're good, no matter what Dan tries to do," Jazz comforted. "Now, are you ready to go prove it to them by defeating him? Showing them that you're willing to fight for the future you want and the future you deserve?"

Danny nodded, his face determined.

"I'm helping too," Valerie stated. "There's no way you're leaving me out of this one."

Danny smiled. "Good, because I wanted you to help in the beginning. I'm going to need all the help I can get to beat him."

"Yes, but you can do it, we know you can," Maddie comforted. "We'll be there to help you, but in the end, it's going to be you and Dan."

"Danny, you can do it," Jazz assured. "You have to do it. Do it for Massey."

At the mention of Massey's name his eyes glowed green, filled with determination. "I swear, on Massey's grave, that Dan will pay," Danny promised, his fists clenched in resolve. He was going to make Dan suffer, not only for tarnishing his reputation and making him suffer, but for Massey. For what he did, for everything he took away from him, and for everything Massey sacrificed himself for.

"For Massey," he swore, going ghost and jumping into the air. Valerie kicked up her jet sled and followed while Jack crashed the GAV through the trees, the family jumping in before they too caught up to the rest of them, Danny leading the way to the final battle, the battle that would finally free him from Dan's torturous plans, forever.

* * *

A/N: I hope you enjoyed all the angsty goodness! I'm on a total angst kick right now, so I have to say I enjoyed writing it :) (of course, once I actually got the time to write it...) And I apologize again for the wait. I won't promise to have the next one up sooner, since I've learned my lesson, but I do want to warn everyone that finals are coming up far too soon for my liking (though I don't think it'll be that long) and the next chapter is a battle, which of course automatically means it takes time to write. But I'll try my best!

Four more chapters left! I'm gonna cry...


	22. The Quartet

A/N: Well here we are, on my one year anniversary of posting this story. Yes, one year ago this very day I first posted this chapter, having no clue that it would ever grow to be so long or so popular. If you were to ask me when I first posted this chapter if I expected that this story would even break 500 reviews or if I'd be looking back in a year and still be writing it I definitely would have said no XD. I always knew it would be long, but never this long. And while I know a lot of the time was probably spent waiting for me to update (let's not go there…) it still shocks and amazes me.

So, here's a huge thank you for sticking through this with me, especially everyone who's been here from the beginning. I really really appreciate it! And as a reward for being so great and awesome and just totally amazing…here's an update! XD I know, it's kinda a lame gift, but I really busted my back for the past few weeks to get it up today (for the record I hate battle scenes…I think I've already said that multiple times but I'm just enforcing it. I hate battle scenes . ) so I hope you enjoy it and realize how much I appreciate all of you!

And before I forget, I changed the rating to Teen. I figured what with Massey's death and this chapter plus what will be following in the next one it's kinda necessary…

And on that note, just a **warning**, this chapter is very violent. I mean, it's a battle and it's with the wonderfully sadistic Dan, so it's going to be violent. If it's not really your cup of tea just send me a note and I'll be happy to summarize what you need to get out of the battle so you don't have to read it.

Oh, and a special dedication to EsmeKaliPhantom and SG-Phantom who helped me through this as my sounding board for my organizational troubles…

So here's to a year of ASU! Hope you enjoy the anniversary post! XD

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Two  
The Quartet

Dan laughed maliciously, smirking in triumph at Danny's fleeing silhouette, watching in great pleasure until he could no longer see the tiny speck that was a representation of his disgraceful past. He'd be back, he knew he would be. He'd manage to pull himself together and fly back, ready for the actual battle just as before. But just knowing that he made him fly off, that he made him suffer so much that he needed to leave to deal with the pain he caused formed a sadistic light in his merciless red eyes.

He turned around, facing the surrounding crowd, the light of the streetlamps gleaming off his pointed fangs as he smirked at them, their fearful looks feeding his deranged delight. He knew exactly how he was going to pass the time until the younger version of himself arrived.

* * *

Dan's destruction of the city block was ironically very methodical. It was perfected, like an art. He would slowly and joyously demolish everything immediately surrounding him, taking his time so he could enjoy every sound of breaking glass, every deafening collapse of the foundation, every scream of pain or fear, before moving on to the next set of buildings, repeating the slow and enjoyable process. 

Finally he made his way down the street, reaching Massey's discarded body, a wide smile crossing his face, fangs gleaming. "Oh this is going to be enjoyable," he mused, reaching towards the corpse. If Danny didn't want to desecrate him, he had no problems carrying out the enjoyable task in his place.

"Don't even think about touching that body again!" came the cry from above as red mist poured out of Dan's nostrils as he grinned. His fun had arrived.

"Why should I? What do you plan on--" he started to taunt as he turned around, only to be hit with an unexpected ecto-blast to the chest, sending him backwards a couple steps. He looked up, the smoke emanating from the burn on his chest framing his amused face as Danny floated down in front of his emerging arsenal of assistance.

Dan chuckled at the assemblage. "So you've returned to face me, despite your rather disgraceful flight? And you've even brought an army, how quaint. To think that you need their assistance to even touch me is quite amusing."

"Save it Dan, I'm not in the mood," Danny snapped. "So let's just get to the part where I beat you and trap you back in the thermos where you belong."

Dan smiled in amusement. "Well, this is rare indeed. You, the great and clever Danny Phantom, wish to cease the crafty exchange of witty banter and proceed right to the exchange of blows. A change in pace perhaps, but certainly not an unwelcome one. I have long since wanted the chance to cause you pain."

"Doesn't matter, because everything you throw at me I'll throw right back," he promised, his face etched in determination as he took his battle stance.

"Somehow, I highly doubt that," he smirked in response. "You will never have enough power to defeat me."

"Enough power or not, this ends tonight."

"Only in your dreams, or once I'm through with you, your nightmares." He took his battle stance, red eyes gleaming in fierce loathing as he split himself, four menacing Dans standing in the place of the one. As a single entity they charged into the small army like lightening, snatching their choice foes and separating down the street, each throwing their prey into the hard concrete in the wall and glaring at them, ready and willing to strike, to massacre, to murder.

Danny slammed hard against the wall, feeling the hard concrete shudder as Valerie smashed in next to him. His head was spinning from the harsh contact with the wall, but in his blurred vision he saw a Dan clone leering at him, a glowing fist prepped and ready to strike. He immediately turned intangible as Dan's fist swung down, crashing through the concrete of the wall behind him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw another blur and on instinct he grabbed Valerie's arm, turning her intangible as well as a second fist came crashing through the concrete where her head was.

She looked over at Danny in shock as he pulled her into the wall with him, rising up from behind Dan with guns and ecto-blasts blazing. Unfortunately Dan was already waiting for them, blasting them both with carefully timed ecto-blasts, knocking them both back in the air from the force.

Valerie kicked her jet glider to life, flying out of Danny's hold and towards Dan, ecto-blasts discharging from her glider as she charged at him. Danny flew around, charging at Dan from the side, his own green ecto-blasts heading towards Dan along with the purple. Dan simply grinned in response, creating a glowing shield in front of him that sent the blasts back at the attacking duo. Both saw the reflecting blasts and immediately moved out of harms way, ready to charge back at their enemy only to find he wasn't there.

"Where'd he go?" Valerie asked, knowing that he'd appear out of nowhere and have perfect targets.

"I don't know, but we've got to find him," Danny answered, trying to feel out for Dan with his ghost sense but Vlad's presence continued to mess him up.

"Or maybe he'll find you," Dan's voice echoed from behind them as he materialized, the two of them turning around only to be met with Dan's menacing face as he grabbed their arms. He sent a charge of electricity through them, smiling gleefully at the sound of their pained screams. He finally stopped the surge, using his hold on them to throw them to the ground below where they crashed into the pavement, leaving cracks underneath their sore backs. This was not going well.

* * *

Jack and Maddie too felt the harsh crash of their bodies against the concrete of the wall, feeling slightly dazed as Dan prepared for a blow. But Maddie got the jump on him, taking a step forward and side-kicking him powerfully in the stomach, sending him flying backwards, nursing the unexpected blow to his gut. The Fenton parents took the opportunity to pull out their weapons, taking their battle stance before charging. 

Jack ran at him, fists gloved in the Fenton Ghost Gauntlets as he made to punch Dan's face in. But Dan slid smoothly out of the way and cracked Jack in the back with a mighty punch before turning to Maddie who was coming up on the other side, deflecting the blasts she was shooting. He pushed the shield off towards Maddie, smacking her in the face and dropping her to the floor. But Jack took the opportunity to jump on Dan, taking him down to the floor and holding his neck with one hand, using the other to repeatedly pound him in the back.

The malicious ghost concentrated, pushing past the pain as he waited for Jack to wind back for the next punch. Once he did he shoved his elbow into the portly man's abdomen, loosening his grip so he could throw him off. He floated back up, grabbing Jack and holding him up to take the blasts that Maddie had just shot in retaliation. She ceased, refusing to shoot her husband, only to find that her husband was being thrown towards her, taking her to the ground, crushed under his weight.

Jack scrambled off his wife as she jumped up, catching her breath as she turned to face their enemy. Dan floated, looking like he had no intention to move as he wiped the trickle of ectoplasm from his mouth, shooting an infuriated glare at the two adults that were once his parents, promising them pain for actually drawing ectoplasm. Jack and Maddie stood alert, weapons ready and on hand for when he attacked, ready to release more teamed attacks against the ghost that had tried to ruin their son's life.

* * *

The wall shook, cracking as Vlad Plasmius was thrown against it. His world went black as he tried to stave off the concussion forming. Thankfully his vision started to return fairly quickly as green light began to replace the black. Cheese logs, he knew what that meant. He immediately split himself so the incoming ecto-blast hit the wall instead of his face. 

Now with his complete vision returned to him Vlad split himself again, three Vlads now staring at the single Dan. But still the murderous ghost didn't wipe the amused smirk off his face as he stared at the three duplicates of what was once his arch enemy but was now just a mere annoyance, one that thought he actually stood a chance due to his cocky manner.

The Vlads charged, armed with ecto-blasts and fists, all converging on Dan. Their movements were quick, blasting, punching, and kicking with a single consciousness at their enemy, an enemy who was unfortunately quicker than he was, and also far more creative. He somehow was able to find ways to dodge blasts or punches that resulted in another Vlad being hit instead or placing him in a perfect position for an attack of his own which was generally like nothing Vlad had ever combated in all his twenty years as a half ghost. And yet, Vlad was able to get a decent amount of hits on him due to his numerical advantage, but it wasn't enough to leave a dent.

Time to step things up a notch, be a little more daring. All three Vlads charged at their target, but one of them turned invisible during the charge, pulling back for a surprise attack while Dan was distracted with the attacks of the other two. And sure enough, Dan focused on the other immediate threats, wrapping his whip-like projection of ectoplasmic energy around one of them and slamming him into the other, sending them crashing towards a building. That was when he felt the burn of an ecto-blast against his back. He held back a disgraceful wince, turning to face Vlad, a powerful ecto-blast gunning for his cocky figure.

Vlad held his glowing hand out, intent to absorb the blast and shoot it back, like he had done to Danny on so many occasions. But when the blast hit his hand he failed to absorb it, instead feeling the searing burn as the blast hit.

Dan chuckled evilly at Vlad's surprised expression. "I'm far too powerful for your pathetic tricks old man," he jeered. "You can't handle my ecto-blasts."

"And you can't handle that I'm actually damaging you," Vlad spat back, his other two duplicates flying up on either side of him. "Admit it, you've overspent your power. There is no way you can keep up with me; I outnumber you."

"For now," he seethed, red eyes flaring dangerously.

Vlad glared in return, each Vlads' hands glowing as they formed glowing pink ectoplasmic swords. Time to show what advantage numbers really can bring.

Dan smirked, his own glowing sword forming in his hand, taking his battle stance, daring Vlad to attack. And attack he did.

* * *

Stars danced around Tucker, Sam, and Jazz's vision from their contact with the firm wall, none of them coming out of their near concussions soon enough to prevent Dan from grabbing them by the collar and slamming them into the wall again. The only person saved from the attack was Sam who was protected by the Specter Deflector. Using this to her advantage she ran around Dan, sucking up her revulsion and jumping on his back, the contact and the deflector sending shock waves through Dan, forcing him to release Tucker and Jazz, giving them time to equip themselves. Jazz pulled out the Fenton Peeler, suiting up as the metallic armor encased her. Tucker pulled out an ecto-gun looking vaguely like a lipstick container. 

"I appreciate the hug," he jeered as he started dodging the blasts from the other two.

Sam growled. "In your dreams psycho," she snarled, wrapping a leg around him and slamming her foot where she knew it would hurt, ghost or not. Dan cringed, taking a few shots in his moment of weakness before recovering. He turned, flying backwards into the wall and ramming Sam into it, flying away as she lost her grip, her and her Specter Deflector falling to the floor and off of him.

He flew at Jazz and Tucker from above, shooting ecto-blasts at them as they retaliated, both trying to dodge the shots from the other. One powerful blast caught Tucker in the chest, sending him flying, skidding to a stop next to Danny and Valerie who were picking themselves off the ground.

"That does it. Time for the big guns."

"The big guns?" Danny asked, confused. He couldn't remember any big guns in their plan, unfortunately.

Tucker smirked, pulling out the Boo-Merang. He held it back and gave it a swift toss towards Dan, ignoring Danny's protesting screams.

"Tucker! Are you a complete idiot?" he yelled at him as the Boo-Merang came back around, smacking Danny smartly upside his head.

"Tucker, what was the point of that?" Danny chided, massaging his head and leaving Valerie to take on the charging Dan until the bright stars ceased flashing across his vision. Then the Boo-Merang turned and instead of heading back to Tucker it spun off, hitting each Dan in succession as it made its arc, finally ending up back to Tucker who was smirking proudly. "Okay, never mind, but just…don't do it again."

"Danny!" Valerie called, trying to catch his attention as she furiously attacked the now slightly concussed Dan. All four groups took this break to completely wail on their specific Dan duplicate, doing quite a bit of damage in his weakness. But all too soon the throbbing pain cleared and each duplicate attacked with a vengeance, especially the one dealing with Tucker. He growled, charging up an ecto-blast and launching it at Tucker while his three attackers were still recovering from his last vengeful attack.

The blast caught Tucker straight in the chest, taking him down to the ground from its power. He flew over to him, slamming his head with his fist to be sure to finish the job. He carelessly disregarded him, his stationary body still smoking from the ecto-blast.

"No!" Jazz and Sam shouted, both of them starting to shoot as many blasts as they could at him, trying to avenge their friend.

Danny heard their scream, turning to face them and saw Tucker's smoking body lying on the floor. "No! Tucker!" he cried. He couldn't tell if he was alive or dead, but he hoped, he prayed, that he was still alive. He couldn't lose anyone. They had all promised they would be okay, which was why he had let them fight, and while they had told him they were willing to sacrifice themselves for him, he refused to let it happen. They were all coming out of this okay. They had to, for his sake, they had to.

He turned towards Dan, fury blazing in his green eyes as he shot at his Dan copy, slamming his fist into him with such speed and ferocity that Dan couldn't dodge it, another one coming in right after it. Unfortunately Dan caught the third one, starting to bend Danny's fist back as he screamed out in pain from the pressure on his wrist, his eyes watering as his mind filled with only thoughts of the pain as he felt his wrist bones grind on each other, threatening to snap. But his hand was released as Dan was blasted away, an angry Valerie streaking after him, her Ecto-Grenade Launcher propped on her shoulder as three purple cubes hovered around her, freely shooting powerful laser blasts at Dan along with the grenades.

Immediately the battle became airborne as Dan shot off, trying to avoid all the blasts through careful aerial maneuvers while Valerie and now Danny shot after him, sending blast after blast at him. But Dan would also shoot his own back, aiming for the cubes, trying to take them out but failing due to his awkward angle and lack of complete vision. He changed his tactic, turning invisible before flying under Valerie, grabbing her ankles and yanking her off her glider before regaining visibility. While she fell he took careful aim, destroying two of the cubes before her glider landed under her, taking her back up to the battle. He took quite a few hits from the cubes as well as Danny but it was worth it in the end to be rid of two of those annoying weapons. Now to just get rid of the third…

He rocketed through the air, Danny and Valerie streaking after him to keep up, their barrage continuing after him. Once he had lead them on enough, tricking them into a well established pattern for them to concentrate on, he teleported, reappearing behind Valerie in surprise as he took out the last of her cubes while blasting a surprised Danny away as well. He waved a glowing hand over the huntress, her immobile body encased in a green glow.

"Well well well, if it isn't Valerie Gray, the little huntress that could," he mocked, floating into her field of vision. "Always trying to play with the big dogs and yet always falling short."

Valerie's blood boiled, itching to shoot him, to maim him, but her body remained completely paralyzed due to the green glow surrounding her.

"You've never had what it takes to play with me, and you never will. No matter how many friends or shields you put up to block me, you always will fall short," he growled, an ecto-blast glowing to life in his hand, aimed for her head. "Good-bye Valerie. I can't say I won't miss you."

He was about to shoot when a blast hit him from the side, Danny charging in, his hands glowing. "You keep away from her," he threatened.

Dan laughed. "Or what? You'll shoot me? Hardly threatening." He shot the charged blast instead at Danny sending him flying backwards before getting thrown backwards himself. He looked over at the smirking Valerie, back on her jet glider with the barrel of her ecto-gun smoking.

"What were you saying about falling short?" she smirked before her face hardened, charging towards him yet again as Danny came in from the other side, green and purple blasts raining down upon the nimble Dan.

Jack and Maddie both jumped out of the way as an ecto-blast took out the sidewalk between them. Maddie fell into a graceful roll, coming out on her knees with ecto-gun drawn, blasting at Dan before the gun was shot out of her hands. She narrowed her eyes, standing up and pulling out the Fenton Machete, activating both ends of the glowing light sword and charging at her enemy. Jack too elected for a change of weapon, pulling out the Jack o' Nine Tails and following after his wife.

Dan dodged the first few strikes from the machete, too distracted to notice that Jack had sent his signature weapon towards him, coiling him up in the tendrils of the weapon as tiny electrical shocks ran through his body. Meanwhile Maddie attacked, machete in one hand and an ecto-gun in the other, taking as many shots as she could before he broke free.

And break free he did, his body glowing as he threw his powerful arms outward, snapping the tendrils of the invention and rounding on Jack, grabbing him and throwing him to the ground before turning his murderous gaze towards Maddie. She had drawn ectoplasm, actually slicing his skin with that ectoplasmic sword of hers, and now she needed to pay. He shot a series of decoy blasts, easily dodged by the expert martial artist while he charged up a large ball of ectoplasmic energy in his other hand.

Jack saw the ball, his eyes widening as he knew what he was going to do. Without a second's hesitation he ran towards his wife as Dan released the ball, shooting it right to Maddie's chest.

"Maddie!" Jack screamed, taking a running jump and shoving her out of the way as the blast hit him in the chest, sending him into a wall, the concrete cracking beneath his head. He slid down the wall, slumping on the floor as a red trail of blood marked where his head had slid before starting to trickle onto the pavement.

"Jack! No!" Maddie cried as she propped herself up on her elbow, her gaze turning towards Dan, her expression dangerous and clear even through her goggles. The now incensed Maddie ran towards him, her machete swirling around her as she laid attack in the name of her husband, slicing him as many times as she could. She was too enraged to even consider the fatality of his injury, her mind filling with the overpowering feeling of revenge. Nobody did that to her husband. Nobody.

Jazz and Sam weren't doing so well. This was far beyond their level of expertise. Once they were separated from the group they knew things were going downhill fast, especially after they lost Tucker. All they could do was keep shooting at him, shots that he easily dodged. Occasionally he'd take one from Sam to avoid the dangerous peeler expertly handled by Jazz, but they were merely ecto-blasts and hardly tickled let alone left lasting injuries.

But soon Dan grew tired of the game, preferring to use his energy fighting the more threatening opponents. Time to finish this.

He flew at Jazz, dodging all the shots from the peeler as he flew right up next to her, grabbing the barrel of the peeler and crushing it along with her hand in his powerful grip. Jazz screamed from the shooting pain in her hand as he ripped the hood off the armor.

He grinned at her. "As annoying as ever, aren't you?" he asked, pressing harder into her already mutilated hand. "The world should thank me from ridding it of you and your psychological nonsense. Good-bye, my dear sister," he growled, fisting his other hand and slamming it hard into her head, feeling the skull give way. He dropped her to the ground, the metallic armor on her body making a loud crash that reverberated around the street. He turned, grinning maliciously at the wide-eyed Sam.

He flew at her, grabbing her hands and suffering through the shock of the Specter Deflector around her waist as he sent his own electric charge through her. Protected by the deflector Sam felt nothing, curious as to the point of the attack until the deflector started to smoke. He was short-circuiting the Specter Deflector.

Finally the glow of the deflector died and Sam screamed as the shocks now coursed through her body as well. Dan released her hands, grabbing instead her neck as he pressed his fingers onto her windpipe, her violet eyes wide and panicked as her air flow was restricted, her legs kicking out beneath her, her hands on his as she tried to pull them away but it was no use.

"Ah Sam, how I've long imagined this image, me with my hands around your neck, easily able to give and take away your life with just the simplest move of my thumb. It's delicious," he taunted viciously as he pressed harder, choking gasps emerging from her constricted throat.

"Sam!" Danny screamed, trying to leave his duplicate to charge after her, as he had been since he heard Jazz fall to the ground moments before Sam was lifted up, but he was still held fast, forced to watch as the light from Sam's eyes slowly started to fade as she received less and less air.

"No!" he cried. He wasn't going to lose another, he couldn't. Seeing his sister go had been bad enough, but not Sam too. He was losing too many people, too many members of his family. He had to stop, had to do something. He wouldn't let him take another person from him.

His eyes glowed fiercely as he blasted Dan away, sending out his Ghostly Stinger and wrapping it around him, summing up his strength and launching him at Valerie who started raining blasts down at him with pleasure while Danny took off towards the other Dan. He flew towards Sam but felt something wrap around his ankle, the now free Dan sending out his own stinger. Danny growled, taking careful aim and shooting an ecto-blast at the Dan murdering Sam, causing him to arch his back and drop her. But she remained on the floor, unmoving and still, ripping a cry of agony from Danny. He smiled down at his work, looking at the prone bodies of Team Phantom and smiled before he disappeared, the other three Dans gaining an increase in power now that there were less of them.

Meanwhile a massive sword fight was raging in another corner of the street as three Vlads fenced with Dan. Both were refined sword fighters, quickly and gracefully striking and deflecting the parries of the other as they were both experienced sword fighters: Vlad because it was a hobby, and Dan because he wasn't satisfied until he learned how to successfully murder someone in every method known to mankind. And they were pretty well matched, both striking even amounts of blows and blocking most of them, until the other Dan disappeared. He grinned as he attacked with more veracity, his moves getting quicker, more unexpected as Vlad was hard pressed to keep up, even with three of him.

And then in one swift movement Dan ducked under a slice, cutting upward on one of the Vlads and slashing him across the abdomen, the duplicate quickly disappearing. Then immediately after he turned around, lacerating another duplicate across the throat as he disappeared. He leveled his glare at the now single remaining Vlad, holding the sword out and charging, their duel to the death continuing.

Maddie too felt the pain from Dan's increase in power. She started to feel overwhelmed from taking him on by herself. She spent more time dodging his attacks than giving out her own. And even then it was harder and harder to dodge his attacks and when she did get shot it hurt more than it did at the beginning. Even she, in her unlimited optimism, was starting to feel discouraged. As the battle raged on they started getting more tired, less nimble, while Dan got more powerful due to the decrease in duplicates, widening the gap between their power levels dramatically.

During a monstrous bombardment of ecto-blasts Maddie kept her cool, using her instincts and martial arts to dance around the fiery blasts. But she wasn't quick enough, getting shot by one that threw off her groove. A barrage of blasts reamed into her before Dan scooped her up, lifting her smoking body into the air by the arm, raising her up so his feral, red eyes looked right into hers.

"I've been waiting a long time to do this…mother. There's just something enjoyable and satisfying about murdering your own mother, especially one like you." He spun around in the air to build up momentum before letting her go, chucking her into a building across the street as her body crushed into the wall, sliding down and crumpling into a heap on the ground far below, the sick cracks of her bones resounding through the street, blood pooling around her as a grinning Dan disappeared in victory.

Vlad heard the crack, seeing Maddie fall in his peripheral vision. He gasped as she didn't get up, didn't move. The woman he'd loved since he'd met her so many years ago was unmoving, was injured, was possibly dead. But a sharp slice across his arm jerked him out of his thoughts as Dan smirked at the blow.

"Don't disappoint me now old man. I want to kill you in my own right, not while you look longingly at my victories."

Vlad growled, flying at Dan with a renewed vigor, slicing and parrying with furious passion.

"There! Now that's what I like to see. You fighting hard, trying to avenge her death. It makes it so much more dramatic when I do this." He made a slice which Vlad blocked before blasting him in the face, using the minute distraction to shove the blade through the halfa's stomach. Vlad choked out a wet cry of pain as Dan grinned in sadistic pleasure, shoving the sword in further and twisting it, enjoying the renewed screams from his enemy as ectoplasm pooled in his mouth. He yanked the sword out before discarding both Vlad and the sword to the ground, letting him bleed out as he too disappeared, all his energy now contained within the single Dan fighting the teenage duo.

Danny continued to fight strong, despite how lost and numb he felt. It was just him and Valerie now. Everyone else lay still on the floor, a majority of them lying in pools of blood. But he refused to think about what it meant, he couldn't. To him, they were all just unconscious. None of the wounds were explicitly classified as fatal. There was still hope. He had to believe there was still hope, he had to believe that when he was done they would all be revived and be okay. He had to keep up the delusion, no matter what. It's what kept his fist swinging, his blasts coming, and his mind sharp enough to dodge attacks. Because if he let himself for even a second believe one of them was dead he'd lose it and he'd lose the battle and all would be in vain.

But his resolve started to shatter as he heard the visceral snap of bone followed by Valerie's pained scream, her arm bending with another joint as Dan held her, her guns falling to the ground as she could no longer hold them. He was going after her too, taking away the last person fighting with him. That's what he'd been trying to do, the entire fight. He sectioned them off, taking each one of them out so he would be left alone, just the two of them, with no support or family around to help him. He couldn't let that happen. He shot at him, tears clouding his vision but he didn't care. He couldn't be left alone. He refused to be left alone.

Dan saw him coming, turning his head and shooting rays of ectoplasmic energy from his eyes at Danny's chest, sending him flying backwards in the air before turning his attention back to Valerie.

He leered at Valerie, his fanged teeth edged in ectoplasm from their blows at him. "You always thought you could defeat me, always thought you were on top of me and you obviously never changed. Even in your future you still thought your measly human body invincible, but you were wrong. You've always been wrong. And now you'll see why."

He moved further up her arm, cracking her bone to create another unnatural joint before shooting a blast at the incoming Danny, sending him flying back again before he charged yet again, mindless in his attempts to get at Valerie before he kicked her out of the fight as well.

Valerie shook as she was slammed into the wall, her arm on fire and tears pouring out of her eyes. Yet still her expression remained defiant, not giving in to his sadistic pleasures.

"I was waiting for this Valerie," he told her, pulling his fist back and smacking her hard across the face, this time the blow making painful contact as there was no Danny to turn her intangible this time. "I was hoping, when I returned to this time frame, I would have a chance to fight you, to get you back for everything you tried to do in the future." Another fist slammed into her face before shooting Danny back again. "I never got the chance to kill you there, but I can now, and I have to say that robbing you of your life now, while you are so much younger, is far more pleasing."

He continued to beat into her, punching her, slamming her into the wall, kicking her, each blow like stone upon her, each kick like a powerful mule as blood collected in her mouth. During the beating he constantly remembered to shoot Danny back, his chest sore and pained from being shot away so many times, but still he charged. He couldn't let him do this. He had to try.

Finally Danny got close enough to Dan, actually getting a shot in, but it was too late. Valerie's body already lay limp within Dan's hands, his smile wide in pleasure and enjoyment. He dropped her as she slumped to the ground, the silence of the street ringing in Danny's ears. No sounds of blasts, of weapons discharging, even the sounds of screams were absent. Everything was silent and still as Danny came to a horrifying realization.

He was alone.

* * *

A/N: Phew! Sorry it's so jumpy and chaotic but I had a lot I wanted to do and a lot that needed to be done to end up where it needed to and…yeah. I tried to make it as clear and ordered as possible…heck I have a five page outline on the flow of battle, what moves went where, when and how each member gets taken out…(faint) Yeah, I'm crazy, I know. But maybe now you'll see why it was taking me so long? 

And yes, I'm proud to say I'm evil and here is yet another example of why. I refuse to give any hints over who's dead and who isn't. You all know me, I'm not above character death (I just killed Massey for crying out loud XD). All I'm going to say that each one of their injuries can be fatal or it can be a state of unconsciousness, and I won't tell you which is which, so you may ask, but my lips are sealed. Just like Danny, you'll have to wait until it's all over to know for sure XD

And, please remember that battle scenes are so not my forte. I'm still not entirely proud with it and it still seems really convoluted to me and I keep thinking there's too much going on but…oh well. Maybe when my brain isn't spinning with ecto-blasts and possible murders I'll be able to touch it up a bit.

Also, just a fun note (I know, author's notes abound in this chapter) in the next few days I'll be posting something relating to this chapter on my deviantART account (the link can be found in my profile). It's basically going to be a spoof of this battle scene that all started when SG-Phantom and I were talking about how to take Dan out and we came up with a fun and yet very anti-climactic method. So, I'm turning it into a spoof! XD When it's up the link will be posted in here and on my profile so feel free to look at it! XD

Anywho, here's hoping you enjoyed it anyways! XD


	23. My Immortal

A/N: Yes yes, it's actually me. I'm actually updating, and ASU of all things! I know it's been forever (I'm too ashamed to put the actual time up) but words just…they can't describe my apologies. Seriously, they can't. Even if I expanded my writing talent ten-fold I still would not be able to find a way to express my apologies to you in a way that would be fitting. The amount of time I made you wait was inexcusable, and I know that and I'm so so so so sorry. I deserve to be completely cast out of the DP fandom for this and to lose all of you as readers, but I'm still going to keep trucking regardless. I have no suitable excuses and I have no suitable apologies so I'm just going to stop yammering and pray and hope that the chapter does it for itself (even though I know it won't).

First, another **warning**. While not as graphic as the last chapter might have been, this one's still a battle so there's still injuries and blood and such. As I said last chapter, if it's not your cup of tea, I can summarize it for you, but it's honestly not that bad for this one. Still, thought I'd put it in there to cover my butt just in case XD

Enjoy (you deserve to after all this time). Oh, and please forgive the unimaginative title, but I really couldn't think of one that I thought fit as much as this one did. I don't usually like using song titles to be chapter titles, but o me it kinda sums up a lot of the themes I tried to portray through the battle so, here's hoping it's decent.

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Three  
My Immortal

Danny's mind was reeling. Visions of his unconscious and possibly dead family flashed across his mind's eye. He saw them caked with blood, spotted with bruises, bent at odd angles, looks of intense fear on all their faces. All these images came, each flashing like a strobe-light that paralyzed him so he could do nothing but watch the horrible procession of grisly images. He couldn't do anything, couldn't focus any of his thoughts on any one specific emotion or action, so many were present. He wanted to sob in desolation, scream in horror, demolish everything in his fury, but nothing happened as he just stared down the alley at their fallen bodies.

Finally a bemused cackle shook him from the horrific loop of visions, piercing the heavy silence permeating the air of the street. He looked up at the source of the inappropriate sound, eyes narrowed despite his overwhelming sadness.

Slowly Dan turned to face Danny, his face and clothes speckled with Valerie's blood, his eyes alight in ferocious glee. "There, now things are as they should be," he purred with delicious satisfaction. "You, facing me alone, with no advantages, no lucky chances for you to use to weasel your way out this time. Now, you are mine."

In an instant all of Danny's rage, anger, desolation, and guilt all solidified into one mass of absolute loathing towards the blood-soaked nightmare grinning fiendishly before him. His gaze hardened, the glowing green of his livid eyes reflecting off the tears still lingering there before he charged at him, filled with righteous fury and a need for revenge. Anger clenched his fists tight and thoughts of his family fueled his muscles as he swung at him, missing horribly as Dan simply just phased through his attack as he disappeared.

He laughed cruelly, appearing further down the street. "You honestly think it would be that simple? That you could just charge at me and lay me to waste with nothing but your fists? You will be a much easier prey than I thought," he cackled as his gloved hands wreathed with green flame that he promptly shot towards the beleaguered hero. The blast reached him before he could even process it and he hissed as it scorched his side.

But one measly burn wasn't going to hinder his righteous determination. He had a family to avenge and he would do it. This fight was no longer about clearing his reputation with the town or saving it; it was for much more selfish reasons now. It had begun noble and it still was in a way, but now it was more to wreak revenge in the name of his family, in the name of those that might have been lost…

His own hands filled with green light as he charged at Dan again, determination guiding his actions as he disappeared just before Dan and reappeared behind him to get the edge on him. The blasts caught him unaware in the back, drawing an aggravated wince from the malevolent ghost. He turned quickly, back-handing the younger ghost forcefully to send him flying. He skidded along the ground, the sharp contact burning him even through the spandex.

The dark silhouette of the enemy filled his blurry vision, red eyes piercing at him. "So dedicated," he mocked. "And what perchance is fueling that hm? Your family? Your need for revenge? You know that is a rather dark thought…"

Another bright light filled Danny's hand as he shot another furious blast at his alter-ego.

He laughed, dodging the blast easily. "Well that seemed to have struck a nerve now didn't it? But then again, I can see why it would. After all, this is all your fault, their murders. You didn't talk them out of helping you enough. I know you tried, because I know you, better than anyone possibly can, and I know that you didn't want them to come out here and help you fight me. And yet…you did. You failed to prevent them from coming and thus failed to prevent their death…"

The lingering guilt he felt from Massey's death was amplified, stretching out to not only his death, but the death of anyone in his family. He allowed them to come and he allowed them to be hurt and thus he allowed their death. It seemed like anyone who tried to help him ended up hurt or dead.

They had all come out there to fight for him, to help him despite his wishes otherwise. They convinced him that they'd be fine, that between all of them they could take him. They had argued so vehemently, so verbosely, that he was so convinced, so _sure_ that no harm would come to any of them, that he had lost track of his need to protect them all. He had let Dan divide and conquer them all and it was all his fault. Any pain they were in, any death that may have happened, it was all his fault.

"No!" he cried angrily as another blast of green light shot through the air, only to be deflected by a lazily created ecto-shield. He couldn't let him know that he'd gotten to him, he couldn't. Was it hopeless? Most likely. Because as he unfortunately said, no one did know him as much as Dan did…

He simply laughed as he dissipated the protective ecto-shield. "Oh yes…you do feel it. I can almost see it surrounding you, weighing you down. You carry the burden of guilt, the burden of death. It was a burden I felt I had to bear for many of my early years. After all, I was to blame for the murder of my family. Our family. See how similar we both end up being when time has run its course? I lost our family through unintentional means and now, you have lost ours through similar unintentional means. Well actually, yours may be more intentional than mine since it was actually a form of you that did the—"

He was cut short as an angry ecto-blast caught him right in the face, making him stagger back in the air while a furious Danny seethed, his fists flaming green.

"Ah, I can see that struck a nerve now didn't it?" he smirked, brushing the blast to the face off as a mere surface injury. "What, you do not like hearing of our similarities? I must say that's a bit foolish and close-minded of you. We are nothing but similarities, you and I."

"I told you, I'm not you," Danny growled before charging at him, hoping to crack his fist against his jaw.

He ducked easily, bringing his own powerful fist up into Danny's stomach. He gasped wetly at the pain, crumpling off Dan's fist and onto the hard cement floor. Dan chuckled, leering over him imperiously. "Oh you continue to say that but do you really mean it? Are you really that dissimilar from me?"

"Yes," he grunted firmly.

Dan laughed, the sinister, knowing laugh of one who could see right past any façade and into the deep, inner truths pleading to stay hidden. "Just think about it," he taunted. "We have the same past, the same upbringing, that you cannot deny as much as you want to. We have both faced the agony of the portal accident. We have both struggled through gaining and learning about our powers. We have both faced the shun of not only our community but of our parents as well for what we had become. We both have endeavored to keep the balance between our grades and our duty as a hero, but alas we have both also failed. And now, we have both experienced the death of our family members. We are more similar now than we have ever been. The only difference between us now is that while you linger at the beginning of the path towards the blessing freedom of evil, I stand at the end."

Danny's eyes glowed fiercely as he boiled with rage. He didn't care how many similarities Dan found between them; they weren't the same. They would never be the same. He had swore to his family, had vowed not to become Dan, and he would keep that promise to them if it killed him. "I don't care how many similarities you find," he snapped. "What matters most are the differences. I've never murdered anyone. I've never tortured an innocent victim and enjoyed it. I protect the world, not destroy it. I'm not evil like you."

"Yet," he smirked, red eyes glittering.

A streetlamp near them exploded, darkening the street around them. And then, inspiration struck the young, troubled fighter as he finally realized how to get a hit on his seemingly untouchable opponent. He lifted up a trashcan behind Dan while feigning with an ecto-blast that was easily dodged by the experienced ghost. However, he didn't see the trashcan being thrown in the air behind him, slamming into his back powerfully. But even through the hit he still stayed standing, laughing at the attempt.

"Oh please? A trash can? My you are desperate," he chuckled. "Let me show you how to make a trash can really do some damage…" He lifted it above his head, making it glow with powerful green energy. But he never got a chance to throw it as the trash can exploded in his hands, searing his hands and scorching his gloves as charred trash fell about him like snow.

"You mean like that?" Danny smirked, actually managing a laugh. But Dan was by his side in an instant, squeezing a hand around his neck.

"I am not amused," he growled, throwing him into a wall hard enough to leave a crack. He charged at him, hoping to slam him further into the wall but Danny reacted quickly, phasing through the ground below while he concentrated on making the wall explode in front of Dan, charring him further. His new abilities were so easy to activate, like his emotions were producing a chain reaction for their use. Thinking about his family filled him with the sadness he needed to activate his telepathy, but it shortly turned to rage as he realized that the ghost he was battling was the cause of all his sadness and that activated the explosive ability of his anger. Finally, finally he was gaining the upper hand.

He fought Dan relentlessly, using every trick he could think of. Anything he could find in the street he used to throw at Dan. Trashcans, streetlamps, mailboxes, bits of debris that had fallen from ruined buildings, he threw it all towards his enemy, exploding it all when it approached his vicinity.

Of course Dan started to get wise, expecting the various items flying towards him and the accompanying explosions. He started employing more shields to protect himself, more ecto-blasts to shoot the incoming debris, and while it prevented more damage to himself, it aggravated him for he was too busy dodging attacks from his younger, less mature opponent than being able to do any damage to him. That wasn't how this was supposed to work and it was time for another strategy. He had been content verbally torturing and weakening him, but if he wanted to get physical, he'd get physical.

He waited for the right moment before he acted, sacrificing his own safety as he took an explosive blast to his shoulder. But by not paying attention to deflecting it he was able to duplicate himself into three. Two of them charged at Danny, grabbing his arms and slamming him into a wall while they held him there tight. He struggled, green ectoplasm trickling out the side of his mouth from the strong blow. Dan flew before him, grinning madly as his hands glowed green. With a sadistic chortle he shot a ray of ectoplasmic energy at the detained hero, channeling all the energy into his stomach.

Danny screamed as he felt the continuous, searing pain in his abdomen. It burned his stomach, scorching the spandex and skin beneath it with agonizing slowness. The putrid stench of burning flesh permeated the air around him, filling his nostrils and collecting in his throat. His legs kicked spasmodically as the duplicates held him, forcing him to endure the intense agony as the ecto-blast continued it's ruthless path through his abdomen.

"Hurts, doesn't it Danny? To be skewered on the end of an ecto-blast?" he taunted cruelly, increasing the power and diameter of the insidious blast. "This is the punishment you've earned for getting clever. Here I was, perfectly content with our simple conversation, and then you decided to get physical," he growled, increasing it momentarily in his anger.

Danny bit back a scream as he winced, his pained face framed by the ominous light of the blast.

"Something must have aggravated you, and I'm intrigued to know what it is…"

"You're…troubling me," he grunted as his head flailed back against the wall as he jerked against the hold of the other two Dans.

"Oh no, it's not just me that's bringing this out in you. Usually you are not the one to put an end to the witty banter, no matter whom you fight. No, there is something more…"

"Maybe it's because you…murdered my…family!" he roared in anger colored with pain.

"No…it is even something more than that… I think it's simply the fact that your family _was_ murdered."

"Yeah, by…you!"

"The guilty party doesn't matter. They were murdered and that's enough to enrage you so. Can't you see it? The deeper meaning? I can and I can't even immediately feel what you feel. You're frightened, frightened of turning into me. I was created by the total annihilation of my family and now, here you are, facing a similar dilemma. For all your promises and oaths that you will never become me, you are currently facing the start of the journey yourself down the road that will eventually lead to me."

Despite the white-hot pain raging through his stomach he had to stop and ponder at that, the unfortunate truth of their situation. He was frightened, and he was scared that he was going to end up down the same path. He had retorted that he wouldn't and upheld that he was going to keep his promise, but he couldn't deny that he had always feared that he wouldn't be able to uphold that promise, no matter how hard he tried. Not that he had ever planned on admitting that to Dan, but it seemed like he knew it anyways.

He laughed. "Now you see it. A little slow I might add, but you see it nonetheless. So now here you are, fighting me in the hope of symbolizing the battle with the forces within you that are currently guiding you to become me. You hope that by destroying me and winning this battle you'll win the battle inside you, but it won't do any good. Even if by some miracle you, in your immaturity, are able to defeat me you will only be replacing me with yourself, eventually," he smirked, red eyes gleaming in his verbal triumph.

He choked out a scream as he closed his eyes, shaking his head vehemently. No, he couldn't think that; he just couldn't, no matter how truthful it sounded. This battle didn't have some deeper meaning and it had nothing to do with becoming evil. This was about him avenging his injured family and saving the town from this menace. It wasn't some symbol for an internal struggle and it wasn't fruitless. By defeating Dan he was going to save the town and his family and because he was never going to be evil, there was going to be no replacement. Dan had it all wrong. He was just trying to get at him, as usual. Unfortunately though, it seemed like he had done a decent job this time. He just couldn't get it out of his head, like a splinter wedged deep into his skin. No matter how much he tried to pry it out with his tweezers of logic, it stayed stubbornly in place, rooted to the spot as a constant reminder.

So there he was, fumbling for another, better pair of tweezers, another reason why there was no truth to these worries. The battle was for revenge. He wasn't going to become Dan and he had a sincere promise that he wasn't going to. His family wasn't dead.

His eyes opened as he looked at the street surrounding him, at the family members still on the floor. They weren't all dead. They couldn't all be dead. They were easily just as alive as they were dead. The injuries…they could be fatal but they…they couldn't be. And so long as at least one of them was alive, so long as there was one person there for him to watch out for him and be there for him, he wasn't going to turn into Dan. Dan had his entire family removed from him, his entire support structure. If he at least had just one family member or friend alive that could support him…he'd be okay. He'd be okay.

"They're…they're not all…dead," he retorted with a gasp, still writhing against the wall as the blast started burning a decent indentation in his skin.

"How do you know?" he pressed with a gleeful smile on his face. "The wounds could be fatal they could be concussive, you don't know and you won't, and that is eating you up inside. It's driving you crazy, not knowing. You can't pretend anymore that they're okay because you know, deep inside, that the possibility of one of more of them being dead is very, very high and it's breaking you."

"No!" he screamed out, trying to block out what he was saying. The thought of them being alive was what was keeping him going now; it was his fuel for the battle. He couldn't let Dan get to him, not again, not after he'd restored and renewed his willpower.

Dan chuckled at the continuous dismissal, but he knew it affected him. He could just tell in his eyes. "But I assure you that if they're not dead now, by the time I'm done with you, they will be. And maybe if you're lucky, you'll be able to join them," he snarled as he increased the intensity of the blast even more, the light of the blast almost blinding.

Another agonizing scream was wrenched from Danny's throat while onlookers shifted awkwardly, knowing that they needed to help their failing hero, but none of them wanted to go up against the menacing ghost, especially after what he did to that poor reporter. He had killed him so quickly and so effortlessly that it convinced them all to stay far away, despite all the bodies cast aside along the street and their hero about to be gored by the piercing ecto-blast.

And through it all Danny continued to scream as the blast almost burned it's way through his skin, threatening to touch muscle. He kicked and struggled, desiring to be free of the searing blast, but they were holding him too tight to even make them budge.

"There's nothing in the universe that can stop me," the Dan duplicates holding Danny taunted darkly in unison while the one controlling the slow progression of the blast continued to smirk, relishing in the expressions of intense pain creasing his victim's face, the sickly green glow of the blast only enhancing them.

Danny couldn't help but shiver, because he unfortunately had to admit that seemed to be the case now. He was the only one that could stop him, he knew it, and now it looked like he was powerless to do it. He couldn't struggle free, couldn't stop the continuous agony of the blast; he couldn't even phase through the wall because of the ectoplasmically enhanced grip placed upon him. He wasn't usually one for thinking that this was the end but it certainly had that feel to it. He couldn't escape, and there was no one left to help them because they had all been injured or killed trying to help him earlier, so now it looked as if he was going to meet his end too by being gored by Dan's cruelly inserted ecto-blast.

What a way to go. Speared on the end of a ray of ectoplasm. It was certainly something that would be talked about, that was for sure. At least, it was something that had better be talked about due to how much pain he was going to endure for it to happen. Maybe if he was lucky he'd just pass out from the pain before he died or once the blast destroyed his organs he'd be dead and wouldn't have to wait for the blast to make it all the way through. Regardless, it was going to hurt and it was going to be a much more painful and gruesome death than he would have ever wanted.

He found his eyes roaming about the street, falling upon each family member in turn, eyes lingering on his parents when something caught his eye that made his heart soar.

A breath.

He saw a breath, saw the gentle rise and fall of his mother's chest and as he continued to look on, saw his father's as well. They were weak and they looked forced, but they were still there. They were alive! They were still alive! He could have cheered if he wasn't in so much pain. Glowing tears ran down his cheeks, tears of joy that were mistaken as tears of desolation by his captor. His parents were alive! There was still someone there for him, someone to go back to once all this was over, someone to love and care for him and someone for him to love and care for in return. But their time looked short. The breaths were barely visible as it was and he knew they didn't have much time left if they didn't have any medical attention.

Suddenly, his entire outlook changed. This wasn't going to be where he met his end. He had to get through this, had to fight Dan, had to _win_. Only then could he take his parents to the hospital and get them the care that they needed. They were depending on him to save them, so he could take them to the hospital so they could live. Their lives depended on him.

He felt the sense of purpose within him, felt the great stirring of powerful emotion and he knew what he had to do. It was risky and he might end up being completely skewered on the end of the ecto-blast, but it was his only option and he went for it blindly, not caring for the risk so long as he had a chance of saving his dying parents.

With great concentration he stilled his shrieks of pain, facing Dan with a hard, dangerous glare. "Dan, there is one person in this universe that can stop you: yourself," he snarled before taking a huge breath, letting it out in a screech as sonic waves exploded from his mouth, knocking Dan to his feet and stopping the ecto-blast's progression. He turned to face the other two duplicates, the power of the wail making them disappear before he dropped down to the floor onto his knees. He panted profusely as he curled around his aching stomach, struggling hard to remain in his ghost form. It wouldn't do to change back, not right now, not when he needed his ghost form and it's powers more than ever. Dan was not going to be happy that he just foiled what he was sure was a deliciously evil and tortuous plan and he knew he was going to be out for revenge.

And he certainly was. It didn't take him long to recover before he teleported above Danny, raining ecto-blasts down on his weakened, pained body. The hero cried out as he felt the familiar burn of the blasts across his back, finally finding the energy to turn intangible and sink through the floor where he was safe from the slaughter. But even then it was only a passing sanctuary before he felt a searing hand grab his neck, ripping him out of the ground and throwing him down the street. He skidded along the ground as he was forced to regain tangibility, feeling the harsh burn of the asphalt ravage his damaged body.

Dan didn't waste his time in shooting over towards him, not even giving him a chance to return fire before sweeping him up again. He threw him harshly against another wall and he groaned as he hit the hard plaster wall followed by the smack of concrete pavement. He managed to get up onto one shaking elbow, looking up with teary eyes at the ghost that was hovering before him, hands glowing a dangerous green. Immediately he summed up his power and created a glowing dome of ectoplasm to surround and protect him as Dan's ecto-blasts ravaged the dome.

A growl escaped through clenched teeth before Dan tried again, hoping to break through the protective barrier or at least weaken him to the point where he would be forced to drop it. More ecto-blasts came hurling towards the ecto-dome and Danny grunted as he kept up the energy to deflect them all. More and more ecto-blasts came raining down on the poor dome that Danny struggled to keep up until finally Dan had enough and rushed towards it himself, punching, kicking, and hammering away at the dome.

Danny could feel each attack made on the dome. Each punch, each blast, each buckling kick further weakened the dome's defenses, requiring more and more energy to stay strong, energy that he was starting to lose as the minutes of the onslaught dragged on. He started wincing and grunting as he tried to keep it up, feeling the fogginess of unconsciousness begin to creep up on him as he started to feel more tired and weak by the second. Finally he just couldn't keep it up anymore and it flickered before completely disappearing. He was met with a further series of kicks and punches, only this time to his actual person, and he winced with pain as he felt the bruises form on his exhausted body.

Once his enemy was free from the dome, again Dan wasted no time in continuing with his relentless attack, slamming a powerful fist into his lower back, which wrenched a scream of pain from his victim. Another one followed and Danny spit out bright green ectoplasm onto the street while he groaned and cried out in his pain as the punches continued to plague his injured back. Punch after punch came down upon him, rendering him completely crippled at the hands of his opponent. He couldn't even think through the pain, too exhausted to do anything but try and stay conscious through the agony. His back was searing with pain; his mouth filled with the citric taste of ectoplasm. It was all he could think about, all he could focus on, until he heard a small but determined voice cry out to him from the sidelines.

"You can do it Danny!"

He managed to lift his tear-stained face from the ground, mouth dripping with ectoplasm and the faintest traces of blood. He recognized that small figure at once, the tiny girl dwarfed by the wheelchair that was her only means of transportation. "Alice? What are you doing here?" he asked weakly, surprised that she could even hear him.

"You can do it Danny!" she cheered, her smile wide and her eyes sparkling in confidence. "You can beat the big ol' meanie! I know you can!"

He cracked a smile at her confidence in him, feeling his heart warm in appreciation. Someone was cheering him on. Someone believed in him enough to cheer him on. Despite the massive beating he was taking, someone knew that he would make it through in the end.

"Oh will you shut up?" Dan snarled viciously before snapping his hand out. Danny's eyes widened as he realized what was coming next but he wasn't quick enough to stop it. A green blast of ectoplasm shot out at her chest, knocking her out of her wheelchair with a heart-wrenching cry before she was silenced.

"No!" Danny cried, his eyes flaming as he turned his direction towards Dan. He lunged up at him with lightening speed, attacking him with glowing fists. He was on him before Dan had any time to react, punching and hammering at him, his glowing fists leaving scorch marks where they came in contact with his skin.

He wasn't going to let him hurt another person. He had killed Massey, severely injured his family, and now he had shot at Alice, a poor, innocent girl whose only crime had been to believe in him and cheer him on. It was the act that pushed him over the edge. It made him swell with fury and newfound energy, making him feel alive and more powerful since he'd first started the fateful brawl. He didn't even think of what he was doing, just letting his instincts guide him as he slammed fist after fist into whatever part of Dan he could reach.

Finally Dan found a way to stop the slaughter, managing to grab Danny's fist and use it to throw him down the street. But he snapped back up with a vengeance, eyes glowing fiercely. An explosion was heard high above before chunks of a building began to rain down upon the ghost. Immediately he turned intangible, smirking as he stepped floated over the wreckage, unharmed. But Danny just smirked in return, eyes alighting as boulder after boulder of the wreckage exploded below Dan, filling the alley with green light and the hissing gasps of pain. He concentrated hard, finding more and more rubble to telepathically throw at the smoking heap and when that ran out, he just created more. The cascade of explosions surrounding Dan continued, their loud bangs echoing down the street like a grisly fireworks display until eventually everything just fell silent, including Dan's cries of pain.

Danny panted, letting the cloud of debris fade from the street as he inspected his work, hoping it had made an indent or just…something. As the cloud began to clear he saw the stumbling silhouette of Dan's figure, his jumpsuit and cape singed and his skin burned. Danny grinned proudly, heartened by the damage he had done. It filled him with a sense of promise, a sense of hope. He really was doing something damaging. He really could come out victorious.

This newfound sense of hope gave him the push he needed to keep going despite his exhaustion and injuries. He closed his eyes tight in concentration as he fought hard to duplicate himself, finally feeling the bizarre state of being that came from controlling two bodies. His triumphant grin was reflected on both faces as he glared down at Dan, prepared to strike.

Dan scowled, quenching a small green fire on his sleeve with his fingers. "Two can play at that game boy," he snarled, duplicating into three to combat Danny's two.

But Danny didn't let the odds get to him. He was determined to be victorious. His parents could only receive the medical help they needed if he beat Dan, and he was going to do it for them, no matter what it took or no matter how hard it seemed. There were so many people counting on him, so many injured that he needed to take to the hospital, so many onlookers that were waiting for their savior to free their town of the newest threat, and he was going to do it for them, for all of them.

Both Dannys sent out two ectoplasmic whips, each one seeking in on Dan's ectoplasm and wrapping around their legs. He shot up into the air, yanking the whips down so the two ensnared Dans would crash into each other as they soared high above the city. The third Dan followed them up, shooting after them with a vengeance. They collected both sets of whips in one hand and pooled their strength, launching both Dans towards the third so they collided together. The crash was momentous and the three Dans fell to the ground, cracking the pavement beneath them. Immediately after each Danny charged up a large ball of ectoplasmic energy, holding the massive glowing balls above their heads. With great yells of effort they threw the balls down as hard as they could, both bulbs hurtling towards the conglomeration of Dans on the ground.

The yell of pain from the ground was tremendous as the two balls of energy created a crater in the concrete. The smoke cleared showing only one Dan, bruised and weakened from the fall, his clones unable to make it through the slaughter. As he struggled to get up Danny took advantage of his opportunity, flying down to the ground as both of them surrounded Dan on the outside of the crater. They both opened fire into the crater, shooting out a plethora of ecto-blasts to weaken him even further. Dan was forced to take them, too hurt and injured to move enough to dodge them. He tried to form a shield to deflect them, but the blasts just pierced through it, made stronger by Danny's determination and hope.

Finally they ceased, looking down at the pitiful figure of his enemy in the crater, his broken body smoking. It would be so easy now, so easy to suck him into a thermos, and his hand gripped around one at the belt of his jumpsuit. But did he really want to do that? Did he really want to end this with another entrapment in the thermos? What if he got out again? What if he was able to do all this again and maybe kill another member of his family? What if next time Dan managed to kill him? Did he really want to take the risk of that happening again? Would he ever want to fight against him again after this long, exhausting battle? He had caused so much trouble, so much more than any other ghost he had ever dealt with, and he didn't think he deserved to be left in a thermos with the promise of a possible escape.

No…he didn't want that. He wanted this to end. He didn't want to worry about Dan escaping again, didn't want to worry about what horrors he could do if he accidentally got out. He didn't want to bother with the responsibility of watching the thermos, making sure no one ever found it. He didn't want to think of this battle anymore, think of what he had done to his family. He just wanted this to all be over, to never have to think back on Dan and his troubles again, and the only way to do that was to destroy the ghost below him, struggling to get up and keep fighting. The only question was how…

He didn't know what drove him to do it or why he thought it might provide the solution, but both he and his duplicate instinctively took deep breaths and wailed.

The sound was deafening, echoing off the walls and down the street. Both wails pulsed outwards towards Dan, the sonic waves slamming into him with a great and terrible force. Dan arched his back in pain as he felt the wail attack him from all sides. He felt the force push at him, throwing him backwards against the other pulse that was pushing just as hard the other way. The two converging wails kept him painfully in place, the jostling causing him to scream out in an agony greater than he had ever before felt. It was like being pulled and compressed at the same time and his body was a mess from the build up of force and pressure.

Danny wasn't faring too well either. His most powerful ability coupled with duplication, which he could hardly do on his best of days, was a draining combination and it was all he could do to keep both him and his duplicate wailing. He struggled, grunting and yelling as he felt his knees buckling beneath him, just waiting for his vision to darken before he passed out. But he couldn't. He almost had him; he could feel it. He knew he was doing something damaging to him and he couldn't just give up, not when he was so close to this final victory. He was so close to ending it, so close. So close to stopping this menace from ever harming anyone again, so close to finally being able to check on his family and get them the attention they needed.

And so he persevered, keeping all his focus on staying strong despite the exhaustion he felt creeping up on him. He kept going, doing it for the ones he loved. He did it for his parents: the ones that not only raised him into the boy he was but chose to still love him and care for him despite being a ghost. He did it for Jazz: the sister that always supported him and always put up with him, no matter what he did or how much he pushed her away. He did it for Tucker: the friend that had been with him since he was young and always promised to be, no matter how weird things got. He did it for Sam: the friend that had been not only a friend but sometimes…sometimes more than that, or so he hoped. He did it for Valerie: the girl that, despite occasionally being a pain, had understood and befriended him enough to help fight with him. And he even did it for Vlad: the half ghost that he knew whose help had made the fight much more possible.

He did it for his family.

An emotion so powerful, so overwhelming welled up within him that it filled him with it, extending throughout his entire frame until both his bodies radiated in green light, giving him the energy he needed to continue onwards. It was the energy Dan didn't have, the energy that didn't help him endure the attack while it only fueled Danny further, and as Danny stood fast and the onslaught continued, Dan felt himself fading, felt his body deteriorating as the conflicting wails tore it away. He was going to fade out of existence. He could just see it. The contrasting forces were too much for his body's unstable make-up to take. The wails continued to bombard his body until he started to dissolve in a flow of green mist, more and more of his body blowing away until there was nothing left of him but the echoes of his piercing screams. The eerie green mist dissipated as it intermixed with the rest of the cloudy air, leaving only two Dannys, surrounding nothing.

It was done.

He ceased the wail and fell to his knees as the duplicate vanished. He felt an exhaustion greater than any he had ever known, and all he wanted to do was to collapse and sleep for days, but he knew he couldn't. He had a family to see to. But despite his fatigue, despite the possible heartbreak he was afraid to find when he checked on his family, he felt a glowing sense of achievement within him as he looked down at the empty crater, the empty crater where Dan had once stood. He did it. He actually did it. He actually defeated Dan. And not the defeat where he sucked him into the thermos and called it a win, this…this was an actual defeat. He had won and he had emerged victorious, and that thought alone sent a surge of pride and triumph running through him. He had done it.

But that glowing feeling dissipated as he looked up at the street, at the bodies of his family and friends surrounding him, not knowing who to check first. He was almost afraid to check. He didn't want to crouch over one, feeling for a pulse only to find there wasn't one. But he knew the longer he waited the worse off it could get. So he sucked it in, flying over to his parents that he knew were alive, easing himself in to the disaster he could find with the other bodies.

He knelt down beside his mother's bloody body, checking immediately for a pulse and breathing a sigh of relief when he found one. It was faint, but it was there. He quickly scanned for other injuries, too afraid to touch her. There were so many broken bones, her body making so many strange angles that the possibility that she could have broken her spine was too great for him to touch her anymore than he already had. So he quelled his urge to hug his mother and cry like a little boy, instead turning his tear-stained face to address the crowd.

"Help me! Please! Someone help me!" he desperately begged out down the street, glowing tears pouring from his eyes. "They need medical attention! Please! Call an ambulance! Call a doctor! Call _somebody_!" But he couldn't wait and watch for someone to do their duty, for he still had more family members to see to, and he needed to know how bad off they were.

He shot over to his dad, blinking away relieved tears as he saw the gentle rise and fall of his chest. He still checked for a pulse, gratefully finding one there as well. Both his parents had made it through alive. Both were sporting major head injuries and his mother's body was broken pretty badly, but they were still alive and that's all that mattered at the moment. The rest could be fixed at the hospital later, but for now, they were okay.

He made to fly over to Vlad next, hoping to again slowly ease himself in, but he found Kwan already there, using Vlad's suit coat to staunch the hole in his stomach that was oozing more and more precious blood by the second. "Danny, this one's fine," he told him as he nodded his head. "Go check on your friends."

"Thank you…thank you," he choked before turning to look down the street only to find a number of people outside, drawn out into the open after the disappearance of Dan to respond to Danny's heartfelt plea in an effort to help the heroes that had just risked everything to save them all. Many were on cell phones as they tried to report the calamity to the hospital while a number of others rushed to the injured. He saw a few people inspecting Valerie's bruised and battered body, giving him the thumbs up from far away. He nodded to them, tears in his eyes as he shot over to his friends.

He dashed over to Tucker first due to proximity, checking his vitals. A huge rush of relief escaped him as he felt a pulse, and a relatively strong one at that. His head was bleeding and he had a large burn on his chest from where the ecto-blast scorched him, but he was alive. There was another that was still alive.

He was about to rush over to his sister when he saw Lancer bending over her, checking her out, so he headed over to Sam instead. He placed a hand to her neck, feeling the sought-after pulse. But before he could let the relief sink in he felt the problem: she wasn't breathing. His heart clenched as he felt a weight drop into his stomach. Immediately he started to panic. How long had she been without air? How long had he been fighting Dan? At times it had seemed like hours and yet sometimes it only seemed like minutes. But instead of continuing to pester himself with questions he knew he didn't have the answer to he instead did the only thing he could do.

A burst of light changed him back to his human form and he knelt over her, pressing his hands into her chest to start CPR. He didn't know what he was doing, not having ever taken a class before, but he hardly cared. He couldn't just sit there and do nothing while she went without air. He pumped her chest ten times, deciding it was a nice round number before he pinched her nose and breathed into her mouth. He did this a few times before going back to the pumping, eyes blurry with tears as he fought hard to save his friend's life.

How long he continued with the CPR, he didn't know, but eventually he started hearing voices around him, asking him to switch with them. He looked up, making out the shape of an adult that was unmistakably a paramedic. He almost buckled onto her right there with relieved cries, somehow managing to transition smoothly to their professional CPR before collapsing onto the ground beside her. Their emergency treatment was all a haze through his relieved and exhausted tears, but he was able to pick out words like "crushed windpipe" and "tracheotomy" and finally "she's breathing". Whether her brain had been starved of oxygen too long remained to be seen, but at least she was alive and breathing, and that was more than he could ask for at the moment.

He turned and looked around, seeing the previously deserted street filled with people and ambulances. He saw the paramedics lifting stretchers bearing those he cared about into the ambulances, and he prayed they were able to receive all the treatment they needed. He even saw little Alice being helped into one, her eyes open and blinking, which was a good sign. But as he continued his survey around the alley, touched at the generosity and benevolence of all the people helping, his eyes caught those of Lancer's and he froze, his heart plummeting as he interpreted the tears and the sorrowful look of apology.

They didn't all make it.

* * *

A/N: I wanna take it back! Please, lemme take it back!! bawls I don't wanna kill her anymore! Please don't make me kill a character, please! And one of my favorites too! sobs

takes a moment to compose herself

Anywho, I hope that was tolerable. I tried real hard to do a good final battle scene, but I horribly suck at battle scenes and I realize this, but I also knew that this had to come. I'm sure it gets a little repetitive and a little cliché and possibly even a little boring and rushed but…I really couldn't help it, sorry . I ran it past a friend of mine when it was only nine pages in and she said it was all right so…here's hoping!

And did anyone notice the Firefly reference XD I couldn't help myself, I've been on a total Firefly kick XD

Anywho, just a brief note about the death of Dan: I know it's a stretch and I know it's impossible to kill a ghost (believe me, I've had arguments with myself for months on it) but I just…I didn't want a thermos ending. I wanted this to be the end-all-be-all battle and you just can't end that kind of battle with a thermos. I wanted Dan to be wiped off the face of existence and so I tried to figure out the best way possible. Scientifically, I'm quelling my OCD need for explanation by saying that I've always found ghosts to be highly unstable. They're not meant to exist first off, and they're basically just manifestations of ectoplasm, which could be a highly unstable compound; you don't know. Still, if it's something so powerful that it can do all this cool stuff in the DP-verse, then it's most likely unstable. So I figured that putting a being made up entirely of this compound (and not a very stable manifestation of it either) through extreme force and pressure, like what would happen being stuck between those two wails, that the chemical make-up just wouldn't be able to hold together anymore and thus Dan goes poof. That's my rationale of it and it somehow makes sense to me, so I took it and ran with it.

And sorry about the kinda-cliffie, though it's not really that much of a cliffie in regards to Jazz. Yes, she really is dead, if my bawling above didn't indicate as much, though if I'm sadistic enough to kill one of my favorite characters, who am I sadistic enough to kill on the operating table in the next chapter….

Oh, and fingers crossed about getting my 1,000th review on this chapter! I only need like, 22 more to go! (is majorly excited) Oh, and on the topic, I wanted to thank you all so so much for your resounding reviews on my last chapter! huggles all According to my stat calculator I got 92 reviews on the last chapter alone, so thank you all so so so so much!! I really don't deserve it but still, I love you all!

And one final thing, sorry, I haven't forgotten about the spoof I promised of this two-part battle, I just figured you'd appreciate me updating this before spending my precious time on something like that XD But I'll let you know when I get around to posting it. It's going to be really short so it, hopefully, won't be too long.


	24. Penance

A/N: Happy Ninth Dannyversary! I know this is technically going up on the 4th but, well, I didn't finish it quite in time (story of my life). But how about a happy surprise present for you - an update!

Look...I know I've been a terrible person for taking this long to get this chapter up. I have reasons and I have excuses, but you don't deserve to hear them. It's just been too long that I won't insult you with them. I am truly, deeply, and unbelievably sorry. After all your loyalty, attention, and devotion to me and this story, you didn't deserve that wait, and I can never apologize enough. You all mean so much to me, and I'm so sorry to hurt you like I did.

To those that I lost forever with my long wait...I am incredibly sorry, and I understand. To those of you who are still with me...I don't know how you are and I can't thank you enough for sticking around and putting up with me over these long, tortuous years. To those of you who are new...feel lucky I didn't put you through what I put my other readers through.

But enough of me talking, because that's not what you care about. On to the chapter! I have to say it was quite intimidating writing something good enough to present to you after all this time: I can only hope I did it justice.

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Four  
Penance

He had beaten him of his own merit, on his own terms. No one could call it a lucky break now. He had fought hard, suffered immense pains, and he had come out victorious. He had beaten him and no one could deny that. But if that was the case…why wasn't he happy or proud or relieved? The end of Dan should have been a triumph worthy of nights of celebration. It should have been a time to congratulate himself on an impossible enemy well beaten and a grueling battle won. So why didn't this feel like a victory? But one look around the street at all the stretchers and paramedics addressing his injured family and his sister's cold, still body lying on the pavement gave him the answer he needed.

It didn't feel like a victory because it wasn't.

* * *

"Jazz? Jazz? _Jazz!_" The heart wrenching cry of a brother's shock, fear, and pain reverberated down the street and through the hearts of all present. Time seemed to stop as the sore, bleeding hero ran over to his beloved sister's body. There was no dignity in his run, no sign of the proud victor that just saved the city and possibly the world from one of the true horrors of the Ghost Zone. In that moment, he was a meek, lost boy scrambling for the body of the one who helped him stand fast against everything in his life. He may have been the steadfast warrior wielding the mighty weapons, but she was his armor, the foundation on which his strength and power was built. And now…she was gone.

The beleaguered warrior ran for his armor, blind from the tears freely cascading down his face. He tripped and pitched down onto the ground in the middle of the road, but he continued to stumble and even crawl over to his sister until his hand touched her cold body.

And then, time seemed to return as he screamed. What he screamed was barely intelligible, but the feeling, the desolation, the horror, the hopelessness, was perfectly clear. It was a wail of utter anguish and despair, not so unlike the destructive ghostly wail he had used to destroy the monster responsible for her lifeless body. It was a sound none on the street had ever heard before, and one they never cared to hear again, for it just about shattered their aching hearts as Danny's feelings of misery and failure vocalized themselves in the light of his ruthlessly crushed hope.

"No…no Jazz…_no_!" the hero blubbered as he gathered her limp, bloody body into his arms. Bright rings of light engulfed his body, leaving a young teenage boy in the hero's wake to cradle and hold tightly onto his older sister in desperation, as if she could seep some life away from him and come back if he kept her close enough. His entire body racked with heaving sobs of utter devastation as tears soaked her auburn hair and black shirt. Underneath his quaking body, he felt nothing. No subtle rise and fall of her chest, no rhythmic beating of her heart. She was as still as a ghost…as still as death.

It couldn't be real. It just couldn't be. Jazz wasn't dead. Jazz was…it was just a trick. She was just having a heart murmur, or having a hard time catching her breath, but she'd come out of it. She knew how much he needed her. She knew that she couldn't leave him to face all this alone. She'd been with him every step of the way and she wasn't going to abandon him, not after they'd come so far. Any minute now he'd hear her gasp in a breath or feel a weak pulse beneath her chest.

Any minute now.

But as the minutes drew on…the gasp never came. The pulse never sounded. She…she was gone.

"No! You-you c-can't be gone!" he sputtered through his heaving wails. "You can't leave-leave me Jazz! _You can't leave me!_" he shrieked hysterically as more and more tears gushed down his face.

Didn't she understand? He needed her! She was his older sister! She had been there since the moment he was born, watching over him, looking out for him. She was unchanging, immortal even, always there to look out for him and make sure he was safe and sane and now she was gone. She was gone!

As he sobbed, he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and he jumped, sparing a glare at the man who dared attempt to interrupt his grieving before turning his saddened eyes back onto his sister.

"I'm sorry Danny…but we need to take the body," the brave paramedic informed him.

The young boy's eyes blazed green as he clutched onto his sister tighter. "No!" he screamed. "No you can't take her!"

"I'm sorry, but we have to," the paramedic continued as he placed a hand on Jazz's body.

"No! Get away!" Danny cried as he yanked his sister away. "You can't—not yet! Not yet!"

"Danny, you have other family members that need you; ride with them to the hospital," another paramedic tried, but Danny wouldn't hear it. The rest of them were alive; they were going to be fine. He could see them some other time. But Jazz…if he let go of his sister, if he let them have her…he'd never get to hold her again. She'd be put in an uncaring black bag, sealed up in a frigid morgue, and then buried, and then he would never see her again. No, he wouldn't let them do it! Not yet! He needed more time with his sister! He wasn't ready for her to go!

The paramedics tried to approach him again but he held an arm out, his hand glowing bright green in warning. They weren't coming one step closer to separate them. It hadn't been long enough. It would never be long enough.

"Mr. Fenton, you have to let them take her," Lancer's surprisingly gentle voice said from beside him, ignoring the potential for injury.

"No!" he yelled, his voice full of betrayal that his teacher would be so quick to be rid of Jazz forever.

Lancer backed off for a moment, giving the paramedics a look that told them to give the grieving younger brother a few more minutes to come to terms with what had happened to his only sibling. "Okay Mr. Fenton, take a few more minutes to care for your sister," he allowed as he took a step back.

Immediately Danny's puffy eyes went back to his sister as he pulled her gently away from his tight hold to rest in his lap. With a surge of tears he saw her blank, lifeless stare and immediately used two shaky fingers to gently close the lids over her once vibrant teal eyes. In a show of brotherly care, he brushed her hair away from her face, only to feel it be matted by the sticky, congealing blood from her head injury. No…no that couldn't be there. He had to clean it up. This wasn't how his sister was supposed to look. He had to fix it.

He quickly tore a piece of his shirt off to start wiping the blood away from her head. He did it gently at first, not wanting to harm her, but it just wasn't coming off. It just smeared all over her pale face and stained her dull hair. No, he had to get rid of it! He started scrubbing harder and harder as tears continued to pour from his eyes. She needed to look the same. She needed to look like she was sleeping. What would his parents think when they saw her like this? No, the blood had to be gone! It was ruining her!

Lancer noticed the furious scrubbing and stepped in, staying Danny's shaking hand. "It's okay Mr. Fenton. They'll take care of that later."

"No I…I need to do it," he said seriously as he returned to single-mindedly wiping the blood from her hair. "It can't be here. It's not supposed to be here. I have to get rid of it."

"I know, and they'll take care of it," Lancer said firmly as he once again grabbed Danny's hand to pull it away from his sister. "There's nothing more you can do. They'll clean her up the rest of the way if you just let them take her."

Danny jerked back into reality hearing that the paramedics were going to take her away. He jerked away from Lancer's grip, but the teacher kept a firm hold. "I-I can't! I can't! Not…not to Jazz! She needs me!" Danny yelled as he still struggled against the old man's surprisingly strong grip.

"And you've helped her wonderfully," Lancer complimented slowly, "but right now she needs to go with them. You have to let her go."

"No! No!" he screamed incoherently as he writhed in Lancer's grip, clearly in a panic as his arms and legs flailed. "I won't! I won't!"

"You have to!" Lancer grunted as he tried to combat Danny's struggles. "You have to say goodbye," Lancer pleaded. "You have to say goodbye." And with that he managed to pull his student into an embrace and away from the body of his sister.

The young boy collapsed into the English teacher's hold as a chorus of sobs burst forth from Danny once more. Lancer tried his best to keep hold of the boy as he devolved into a bawling mess in his lap. Tears flowed freely down his face as he tried to whisper a comforting 'there, there', hoping to give the boy some strength to face his troubles. But other than that he was at a loss for how to comfort him, for he could see that the more time passed, the more real it became for Danny, and the more heart-wrenching it became to watch.

Because Danny was struggling to say goodbye. He couldn't; he just…couldn't. If he said goodbye…then it meant she was truly gone, gone from the world, gone from his family, gone from his life…and that scared him. He couldn't even fathom his life without her there. How often had he wished that her annoying, know-it-all comments would cease? And now…he couldn't imagine the Fenton home without them there. No one would be there to tell his parents they were taking things too far. No one would be there to worry obsessively over what ghost fighting was doing to his mental state. No one would be there to make sure that dinner wasn't going to eat them instead of the other way around. No one would be the lone member of the Fenton family to make a name for themselves without having the word ghost attached to it. Between all his secrets and his parents' obsession with ghost fighting, they would have torn the family apart without sensible Jazz to keep it together. With her gone…there was a huge gap left in the Fenton family, and there was no way that any of them could possibly fill it.

She had always done so much for him, for the whole family, and he never even realized it. He didn't think his parents even realized it. He always knew of course, somewhere, but whether it was due to his general cluelessness or by Jazz's own design, it was never outwardly acknowledged by anyone. And now all that stability and comfort was gone…along with her.

Fresh tears sprang to his eyes and more heaving sobs caught in his throat as his mind rapidly filled with how much she really had done for him, even just recently. Afterall, who had been there to help cover for him or comfort him even before he knew that she was aware of his secret? Jazz. Who had helped him through the press conference after his secret had been revealed? Jazz. Who had helped him through the student's reactions to him when he first came back? Jazz. Who had helped comfort him after he found out that Dan was behind everything and give him confidence that he could do it? Jazz. And now who would help him deal with the aftermath of the battle without her there? His family and friends would of course help as much as they could, and he would appreciate it greatly, but when Jazz spoke…it was just different.

She just knew him so well, and he hated to admit it, but she knew him almost better than he knew himself. She knew exactly what he was going to be thinking and was already three steps ahead of him in trying to combat his destructive, guilt-ridden thoughts. Of course she had used that to her advantage when he was younger to tease him and get him to admit to some of the pranks he would pull on her, but recently she had only used her powers for good, to help him deal with everything life would throw at him. No matter what was going on, no matter how much he beat himself up for the mistakes he made…she was always there to give a helpful remark, to remind him of how dumb he was being, to help him see that things were never as dark as he imagined. And they always worked. Always. And now…how was he supposed to do that without her? How was he ever supposed to see the light again without her?

Her last comforting words echoed in his mind, almost mockingly to him. _Danny, I know there's a good chance that something'll happen, but we're willing to risk it, and you should be too. We let you have the chance to risk your life to save the town and us, why can't we return the favor?_ She couldn't have known what really would happen when she told him that. If she had known that this would be the result…she never would have agreed to fight…and he never should have let her.

Lancer watched the young boy closely as he kept a close hold on him, tears leaving his eyes as well from watching his student's grief. His heart broke for him, to lose a sister so young and at an age when they were just starting to get along and understand one another. He didn't have any siblings to compare the feeling, but he didn't need experience to appreciate how much Danny was struggling, and would forever struggle, with her death. But he seemed to be calming in his arms, and he felt brave enough to signal to the paramedics that they could take the body now. Something told him that Danny wouldn't fight them now.

They bravely approached Jazz and laid questioning, yet gentle, hands on her cold body. They kept their eyes on the boy as they lifted her onto the stretcher, fearing that he would lash out again, but he did nothing but continue to sob in the arms of his teacher. Convinced that it was safe, they began to wrap the black body bag around her.

The sound of the zipper shook Danny out of his thoughts and he turned his red and puffy eyes. "Wait," he choked out, and the paramedics shared a fearful look that he would try to stop them again. But he made no violent moves. He just swallowed hard as he tried to calm his heaving breaths. "I…I want to do it," he requested.

The paramedics' faces quickly turned from apprehensive to sympathetic. They nodded their permission and took a step back. Danny tried to stand on his shaky legs, and Lancer helped him to get his bearing as he stumbled over to the stretcher. He knew they would treat her well and take care of her body, but Jazz deserved someone she knew to seal her away. He knew this wasn't the last time he would see her face, nor would it be the last that anyone looked upon her since they would still have the funeral, but somehow that seemed different. After all, this was the last place that Jazz was alive. Once she went into that bag, she became officially dead. Once she went into that bag, she would be permanently separated from the world. Sure her face would be shown to the world one last time at her funeral, but that wasn't the same as now. By sealing her off now, this was the start of the end, and she deserved to have someone who loves her start that process.

He placed a shaking hand on the zipper that was now resting at her abdomen. He started slowly zipping it up her chest, his cries continuing to burst forth as he hid more and more of her away from the world. He hesitated as the zipper reached her head, his body quaking from the effort it took to not collapse. He bit his trembling lips against more tears as he looked up, as if he were trying to find the strength needed to erase her face from the world and pronounce her officially dead. He swallowed hard and breathed heavily through his mouth before resting his eyes on his sister once more.

"Jazz," he said in as steady a voice as he could manage as he rested a hand on her cheek. "I'm so…I'm so-so sorry," he apologized, feeling like some words needed to be said. "This…this never should have happened, but you…you need to know that I…I love you. I know I didn't always show-show it to you…but I love you," he promised as he blinked tears from his eyes. "And I'm going to miss you…_so_ much," he shuddered as his voice broke. "So much. Goodbye Jazz."

He bent over her and laid a trembling, loving kiss on her forehead as he squeezed his eyes against the onslaught of tears. With a sniffle he pulled away and zipped the bag the rest of the way up with a strength that he didn't even know he possessed, watching her face the entire time until all that was left was the uncaring black bag. And then…she was gone.

He hesitated for a moment before he collapsed onto the bag, sobbing desperately into his arms, the last image of her face burned into his mind for eternity. Lancer rushed over, laying a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. He had given him his distance, knowing that Danny needed to find the strength to say goodbye on his own, but he needed someone now. Danny turned easily into the arms of his teacher and let out fresh bawls that never seemed to stop. He could hear the wheels of the stretcher take the bag with his sister away, and he tried to look, but Lancer stopped him. "You've tormented yourself enough for today," he said gently before holding the sobbing boy tighter.

He walked the boy over to a nearby bench, and there they sat. No one said anything, for there was nothing that could be said. Eventually he would urge Danny to follow his family to the hospital, knowing that seeing his family alive and well would do him good, and sharing the pain of their shared loss would help ease his suffering, but for now he was content to let the boy morn on his own.

How long it took before Danny's heaving cries dried up and turned into whimpers, neither of them could say, but eventually the beleaguered superhero had no tears left to shed. And yet he still made no motion to leave the comforting embrace of his teacher's hold. He knew he needed to see his family, he _wanted_ to see his family, but he just couldn't find the strength to venture to the hospital just yet. The hospital only promised further pain as Danny would be forced to relay Jazz's passing to each family member and friend in turn, and it was just too soon to have to relive all that trauma and help his family through their pain while he was still trying to deal with his. He just couldn't do it…not yet.

Mr. Lancer seemed to sense his hesitation and he placed a caring hand on his student's shoulder. "I'm fine staying here with you as long as you need Mr. Fenton, but I think it would be good for you to see your family," he prodded.

He just shook his head. "N-not yet. I…I can't tell them yet. I can't say-say it."

"We can request that the doctors tell your family for you," Mr. Lancer suggested. "That way you don't have to do it."

"No…no I need to do it," he said stubbornly, with as more conviction than he'd used since he saw his sister's fate. "I have to tell them. I…I owe-owe it to her."

"The only thing you owe your sister is a promise to live a full and happy life, because that's what Jazz would want for you," Lancer emphasized strongly. She wouldn't want you to bring further pain to her passing than what you already feel."

"It's not what she wants. It's…it's what she deserves," he said solemnly.

Lancer sighed as he rubbed the boy's back in a comforting fashion. "She deserves to have her family be told, but it doesn't have to me by you. You already did so much for her here; you don't need to torment yourself further Mr. Fenton."

"Yes, I do," he replied resolutely, his unfocused eyes still staring at the street.

"No, you don't," Lancer responded back just as strongly. "And if you're doing this because you think you need to be punished for her death, then you are mistaken. What happened was not your fault."

Danny just shook his head, his face creased in agonizing guilt. "No, it is my fault. It's all my fault. She never should have been here, none of them should have been here, but I didn't stop them, and now she's dead because of me!" he cried out in a panicked rush. "That's why I should be the one to take care of everything, because none of this would have happened if it weren't for me!"

In a swift motion Lancer forced Danny to sit up and caught his dull blue eyes with his own. "You look at me, Mr. Fenton, and you listen. This was not your fault," he emphasized strongly. "There is no way you could have controlled what happened out there tonight, and there is certainly no way you would have been victorious if they hadn't helped. And blaming yourself and punishing yourself for what happened isn't going to make you feel any better or take back what happened. No matter what punishment you think you need to inflict upon yourself, Mr. Fenton, you can't take it back."

He had been prepared to argue, to continue to profess his guilt over Jazz's death and his need for penance for his actions that led to it, but Lancer's words stopped him dead. Take it back… No…he could take it back. And not just Jazz's death. He could take it _all_ back. Jazz, his family's injuries, Massey's death, his secret…he knew exactly who could take it all back, and if he didn't agree to do it…then he would make him.

His eyes became remarkably clear as he sat up straight, ignoring Mr. Lancer's worried questions. Without a word he leapt from his teacher's arms, transformed, and took to the skies, his face determined.

"I'm going to fix this Jazz," he said solemnly as he flew single-mindedly through the air. "Don't you worry. I'll fix this."

* * *

A/N: Well, there it is. The chapter that you've been waiting almost 5 years for. I hope it at least approached your expectations! And if I got a tear out of at least one of you then I'll consider my goal of this chapter fulfilled. Any additional tear after that one is just bonus!

Next chapter will be the last chapter for this story. It's all going to be tied up and ended in the next chapter, which is absolutely weird to think about... But 25 is a nice round number to end it on so...yeah. Next one will be the end.


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